Zaha ‘buzzing’ at Palace after signing five-year deal
Crystal Palace have tied star forward Wilfried Zaha to a new long-term contract, the Premier League club said yesterday.
The Ivory Coast international has signed a new five-year contract to remain at Selhurst Park until 2023, with several reports in Britain saying the 25-yearold player’s improved terms will see him pocket £130,000 (Dh606,635) a week, making him the club’s highest-paid player.
Zaha had an unhappy season at Manchester United in 2013/14 before returning to Palace, and had been linked with potential moves to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur during the transfer window, but no deal materialised.
Zaha, who was the scorer of Palace’s second goal in a 2-0 opening-day win over Fulham on Saturday, turned down an offer of an extension earlier in the summer, which led to speculation about the player’s desire to leave the club. But he insisted that was not the case and is happy to finally have his contract situation resolved.
“I’m very pleased. Obviously, I just wanted to get it over and done with, so I can just focus on the season,” he said. “I’m buzzing that we managed to get it sorted.”
Palace chairman Steve Parish was equally pleased to have his star player commit his future to the south London club.
“Wilf grew up a stone’s throw from Selhurst Park from the age of 4, and has been with the club since he was 12,” Parish said. “This agreement is yet another example of his lifelong commitment to the club, and our commitment to him. This is an amazing day for everyone here at Palace, our supporters and of course Wilf – and is richly deserved.”
Zaha’s importance to Palace manager Roy Hodgson cannot be overstated.
He netted a career-high nine Premier League goals and made three assists to help Palace secure an 11th-place finish last season after a disastrous start. Palace failed to win a league game without Zaha in the side in 2017/18.
By contrast, they won 11 and drew 11 of their 28 games in which he started.