Wilfried Zaha – should we go back for him in January?

My Arsenal mates were mostly sorry they lost him but... let's hope he's found, like so many before him, a good place at our club... From his interviews, it sounds like he's happy.

However, I would wait until the summer. Palace won't let him go until they are safe from the drop, anyway.

If he has a quiet enough season, the price may fall and with less competition for his signature, his wage demands will deflate accordingly.

Iwobi is clearly a far better footballer than I had previously given him credit for. He may not be quite as dazzling as Zaha can be on his day, but I think his overall game is possibly better suited to our team.

I think Iwobi is more likely to give us consistency, rather than blow hot an cold like Zaha. The highs with Zaha would be higher, but he's also more prone to go missing in games.

Iwobi appears to be a great addition to the dressing room too. Seems like a genuinely likable chap. I am not sure if the same has even been said about Wilfred, although it may have been.

Zaha or Iwobi plus £50million? I'm thinking we might have got the better deal.

And in reply to the OP, we almost certainly won't be going back for Zaha in January. I saw an interview with Marco Silva where he quite clearly said he was only ever looking to buy one winger, i.e it was only ever going to be Iwobi OR Zaha.

Bit early to be judging Iwobi if you ask me!

Yes, he’s made a good start, but we haven’t seen enough of him yet to know what impact he will have on the team.

As for Zaha, the numbers do not justify the cost. I think he had 5 assists and 10 goals for Palace last year. That’s not enough for an £80 million plus player who would probably be earning £200,000 a week. Plus, he is free to do whatever he wants on the pitch with Palace, he wouldn’t have that luxury elsewhere.

I predict Iwobi will have 6 -10 goals by the end of the season, and 6 -10 assists if he stays fit. He will provide what Zaha would without compromising the team ethic.

Similarly, Eriksen was being touted as a £150 million pound player, if he had been sold last January. Now, as he winds down his contract, Spurs may not get more than £40-50 million, if someone wants to buy him in January, else they get zero!

ps: Of course, something similar happened to us with Barkley, he was once touted as a £50 million player, I think we ended up getting £15 million. His injury set us back by at least £30 million.

We now need another goalscoring CF and get rid of Tosun and Niasse and then a more experienced CB.

We don't need big egos at FF. Iwobi and Bernard look just fine and Richy and Walcott will get the other flank covered.

We have Sidibe and Bainesy as full back cover and once Gbarmin is fit should be able to switch between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3.

Onwards and upwards.

"Bit early to be judging Iwobi if you ask me!"

"Yes, he’s made a good start, but we haven’t seen enough of him yet to know what impact he will have on the team."

?????Er yes we HAVE seen enough of him to see what impact he not only CAN have but HAS had on the team, he's scored twice. How in the name of Mike Gaynes can it be a bit early to judge.

A strange assessment you make Danny.

"Bit early to be judging Iwobi if you ask me" But then you predict 6-10 goals and 6-10 assists. In predicting such a positive return, you have judged him haven't you?

I agree with others that it looks like there is no need to go back for Zaha and that he has been a really positive addition.

His decision making is not always the best, and he's going to frustrate at times, but he is generally a good fit for us right now. Yes, Zaha will dazzle, and he ties up two defenders whenever he's on the pitch, but he's much too expensive and not really a team player.

So for that reason - I'm out.

I'd also like to see Tosun given a chance now that we have players who can play intelligent balls into the box. His knock-back for Iwobi's goal was intelligent and that of a player with a football brain. Giving him 15 minutes as a sub does him no favours.

I also don't think we need any more forwards and like Ray Roche @ 17 I think we may not have seen the best of Tosun yet.

The only position I am concerned about is centre-half - I think we need cover there.

Now I know that Brands has stated that they are looking to recruit younger players, and the model is not to spend big on older players. But somebody at Everton must have authorized the £52 million we offered for Zaha in the summer. Will they go back in Jan, I don't know but as another poster said you can never have enough good players in the squad. I also think that Silva has hinted he would like to play a 4-3-3 system, now if Richarlison or Iwobi get injured would he be happy with Walcott and Bernard as replacements, given their poor goal return records.

When and where did Silva say that? I don’t recall him saying he wanted both players, but rather only saying he wanted a winger / outside mid / dude on the flank / whatever correct English term for that position is supposed to be used, under penalty of death?

I thought Parish said he can go if someone "meets their valuation."

The expectation you store up by going back and the added pressure make it inevitable that a signing would struggle.

Even in six months the team, tactics etc. will have evolved in some way. It doesn't make it impossible but just unlikely the transfer would be successful.

I'm firmly of the belief Palace will be relegated even with Zaha. They have ducked the drop for too many seasons without evolution relying on one player. Whoever gets him will do so for a much reduced price. There is no way they can sustain his wages in the Championship and have him that unhappy.

A good player, but for me just not to be.

I cant remember which paper it was in but Steve Parish definitely said if a club offers the same as Everton in the January window, he will let Zaha go.

I am guessing maybe to make sure he gets the best out of Zaha till January, he has promised him, if a club meets Everton's bid, then he can go.

Maybe a bit like we may have done with Gueye, promised him provided he kept his head down, if PSG came back with the same bid, in the summer he could go.

I don't know how you and Michael can say Zaha isn't a team player, he has virtually kept Palace in the Premier League for the past 2 seasons. He said he would like to leave in the summer, but is still putting in a shift for Palace and you have heard nothing from him since the move didn't happen.

As for spending the money on Zouma, I was disappointed we didn't get him in the summer but he hasn't had a good game for Chelsea since returning. So do we really want to sign a player whose confidence might be shot to pieces come Jan. Also you arent going to keep all 3 of Mina, Keane and Zouma playing on a regular basis. Maybe time to look at options nearer to home... like our Under 23 centre backs as back-up to Mina and Keane.

Think all the confusion has arisen over the shite that was written regarding Everton's MANY bids fore Zaha: there was one!

Everton bid £52m in early August and that was that, the rest was media shite seemingly.

You are right again, Zoumahasn’t done well since he went back to Chelsea, don’t know why, I haven’t seen any of Chelsea’s games, I have seen Zouma play for Everton and I’ve seen Keane and Mina, so, for me Zouma is best out of the three, and I don’t rate Michael Keane at all, that’s the main reason I would sign Zouma in January.

He's a big fish in a small and struggling pond.

A very good player on his day, but at this time not for me. He will end up staying in London but not Selhurst Park.

Let's build on what we have, now.

He will be 27 very soon. 28 before he has a full season with us.

He will want a 4- or 5-year contract.

Greatly diminished resale value.

At his age he is one injury away from a dip in form.

He is more of an individual than a team player.

He wanted to sign for Arsenal, he would not be ever fully committed to Everton.

The fans would hold him at arms length because of it.

Steve Parish gambled and lost. He is now touting him to all and sundry, proving he was massively overvalued.

We dodged a bullet with this one, I'm not saying he isn't a menace of a player [when on form], I am saying if we have £70-80M to spend on a forward there must be better options for the club.

I think that Mr Brands will put that money to better use than signing Zaha.

Get Zouma (or another fast centre-back) and then maybe a young gem like Jesus Reinier.

If Zouma gets replaced by Rudiger (or Christensen and Tomori) then he will definitely be wanting a new club in January and Chelsea might be more inclined to take a £30-35m bid for him. He knows Silva’s system and seemed to enjoy his time here. I’d not be at all surprised to see him come back in January or even next summer when Chelsea can buy again. Silva clearly liked him and the feeling was mutual.

Suppose he is entitled to a view, even if he is a prat!

What an arsehole.

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