The year is 2020 and Wilfried Zaha still plays for Crystal Palace – this has to be one of life’s great mysteries.
It’s a minor miracle that Palace fans still have the privilege of watching the Ivorian, given the amount of transfer speculation which has surrounded him in recent years.
And today, Zaha came face-to-face with one of the many clubs who have tried to sign him: Arsenal.
The Gunners reportedly offered £40million for the winger last summer, with Palace valuing their star player at something closer to £80m.
Arsenal eventually ended their interest, signing Zaha’s compatriot Nicolas Pepe for £72m instead, and it’s fair to say they experienced different afternoons during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.
Zaha was isolated, forced to try and do it all himself as he so often must in a Crystal Palace side lacking similar star quality.
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There was a moment in the second-half when Zaha dropped deep, beat three players, before releasing Cheikhou Kouyate down the left. As usual, Zaha’s quality went unrewarded as the move fizzled out.
Pepe, meanwhile, was a supporting cast member for Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. With Zaha isolated, Pepe was in the thick of things.
Zaha had more touches than Pepe, but it was the Arsenal man who found himself with two golden goalscoring opportunities, influencing the game in the areas that matter.
There’s nothing to suggest Pepe is more talented than Zaha, however only one of them has the talent around them to help them flourish.
That’s no disrespect to Palace, whose draw kept them above Arsenal in the table, but even their fans can surely see Zaha belongs among more esteemed company.
It’s a similar situation to Eden Hazard when he was at Chelsea, just on a lower scale. By the end, Blues fans could see that Hazard deserved better than chasing long balls in the Europa League.
Zaha has been an exceptional servant to Palace, one who has stayed longer than anyone could’ve expected.
At 27, he desperately needs to join a bigger club, otherwise we may never get to see what he’s fully capable of. Chelsea, Tottenham, and Borussia Dortmund all spring to mind.
