Major pay day awaits play-off winners
LONDON: England international Wilfried Zaha wants to give Crystal Palace the parting gift of a Premier League place before he links up with Manchester United at the end of the season.
The 20-year-old signed for United in January in a deal that could be worth up to £15 million before being loaned back to Palace, who tackle Watford in today’s Championship play-off final.
Zaha netted both goals in the 2-0 semi-final win over Palace’s fierce rivals Brighton and Hove Albion, and the Ivory Coast-born winger is eager to bid farewell on a winning note at Wembley Stadium.
‘‘As I’ve said in many interviews before, it would mean the world to me to help get Palace promoted,’’ he said.
‘‘That’s all I wanted to do when I got my move, that was one of the main things I still wanted to achieve with Palace, and that’s what I will try my best to accomplish before I go.
‘‘We got where we wanted to, and that’s all that matters really to me. We’ve just got one more game now and we’ve got to do our best. It’s 50-50, but I think we can do it.’’
The Championship play-off final is reputed to offer the biggest financial prize in world football.
Today’s match will be worth around £120 million to the winning team, with earning potential in the Premier League set to skyrocket as three lucrative new television deals kick in at the start of next season.
Palace have not played in the Premier League for eight years, while Watford last experienced life among the English elite in 2007.
The Hornets produced a heartstopping victory over Leicester City in their semi-final, with Troy Deeney netting a 97th-minute winner seconds after goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved a penalty from Anthony Knockaert that would have sent Leicester to Wembley.
Watford manager Gianfranco Zola, who enjoyed a glittering seven-year spell at Chelsea during his playing days, believes victory over Palace would represent one of his finest achievements in the game.
‘‘I have been blessed to have enjoyed a fantastic career, with some very good moments, but to win this one would have it rated as one of the best because of everything you go through as a manager,’’ the 46-year-old Italian said.
‘‘You take in every player’s emotion, positive and not positive, so you live everything.
‘‘As a manager, everything is multiplied, so if it happens, then it is going to be amazing, and I am sure I will celebrate the same way I celebrated when we won the first FA Cup with Chelsea at Wembley [in 1997].’’ SAO PAULO: Brazilian football phenom Neymar announced on Saturday that he is about to sign up with Spanish powerhouse Barcelona.
‘‘On Monday, I sign a contract with Barcelona. I want to thank the Santos fans for nine incredible years,’’ wrote Neymar, 21, who is currently a forward for the storied Brazilian team Santos.
Santos had received offers for Neymar from both Barca and their rival Real Madrid, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, quoting the club’s vice-president.
In Spain, Barca confirmed the move yesterday.
‘‘FC Barcelona and Santos FC have agreed terms for Neymar da Silva Junior. The Brazilian forward will don the Blaugrana strip for the next five seasons,’’ said a statement on the club’s website.
Despite his tender age, Neymar has been a first-team regular for Santos for the past four years, scoring 156 goals and providing 77 assists in 256 matches.
In 2011, he guided them to their first Copa Libertadores triumph since the days when Pele represented the club in the 1960s, and has already established himself at international level, scoring 20 times in 32 appearances with Brazil.
‘‘It’s a different moment for me, sad [bidding farewell] and happy [new challenges],’’ he wrote.
Neymar was to play his last game for Santos against rivals Flamengo overnight.
Brazil lacks the megastars of yesteryear as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Robinho have aged, and the country’s hopes for winning the World Cup 2014 largely rests on the young prodigy’s shoulders.
Off the football pitch, Neymar’s face is omnipresent: he’s constantly being interviewed on TV, he appears in scores of ads and on websites, and his personal life is feverishly covered by the celebrity press.