Spurs to up ante for Zaha
TOTTENHAM have been given fresh hope in their chase to land Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha this summer, with manager Sam Allardyce admitting his club would find a big offer hard to turn down.
Spurs, long-term admirers of the 24-year-old Ivory Coast forward, below, and Manchester City are both keen on Zaha, who is valued at about £25 million.
Palace are preparing to open talks over a new contract in a bid to keep him.
Zaha is on a £35,000-a-week deal, which runs out in 2020, but the new offer will bring him in line with the top earners at the club at about £100,000.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a big fan of the winger, and his club will come back with an improved bid after having a £12m offer rejected last
year, described by Palace chairman Steve Parish at the time as “ridiculous”.
Pochettino is keen to strengthen his squad with Champions League football again in the offing next season.
Allardyce, speaking at the Crystal Palace Foundation’s relaunch as the Palace for Life Foundation, said: “Wilf, us and the clubs who want him will decide his future in the end.
“There is always a point where it may be impossible to turn down what is offered. That is realistic.
“Hopefully, we do not get to that point for a long time but it is a possibility because he is a rare talent.
“Who knows how much Wilf is worth? The Premier League has got bigger competition than ever before. It is called China.
“Now the Chinese are looking at the younger ones and are paying bigger money than the Premier League has ever done to entice them to go out there.” Parish said: “We will sit down at the end of the season but I am very confident we can keep Wilf.
“We are looking to improve the squad and he is an intrinsic part of what we are trying to do.”