Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce suggests Spurs target Wilfried Zaha is worth more than £40m

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Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has been linked with this evening’s opponents Tottenham Hotspur.

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce before the match

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has told The Mirror that he thinks winger Wilfried Zaha is worth more than £40million in today’s transfer market.

Zaha, 24, is enjoying his finest season to date, having racked up six goals and nine assists for Palace this term – and that’s even despite being at the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast earlier this year.

With blistering pace, every trick in the book and an improving end product, Zaha is finally blossoming into the player that many expected him to become when he joined Manchester United in 2013.

Unsurprisingly, Zaha’s exploits for Palace this season have triggered increased interest, with The Times noting that Tottenham Hotspur remain keen having failed with a speculative £12million bid for Zaha last summer.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha

The report noted that Palace would now demand around £40million in order to sell Zaha this summer; a price that keeps increasing and increasing with every passing performance.

Zaha takes on Tottenham this evening as Palace host the Premier League title contenders, but after beating Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday, the Eagles will be hoping to pull off another big result tonight.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha in action with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill

Ahead of the game, manager Sam Allardyce has told The Mirror that he thinks Zaha is worth more than £40million in today’s market, praying that nobody bids such an amount whilst suggesting that Zaha must stay at Selhurst Park and play every week.

“Personally, in today’s market, absolutely yes,” said Allardyce, “I hope nobody bids it. We would hope he would realise he should stay at Palace for the forseeable future. He needs to stay here and play every week,” he added.

Paying £40million or more would shatter Tottenham’s transfer record, eclipsing the £30million spent on Moussa Sissoko (Transfermarkt) – but with a new stadium on the way and Daniel Levy famously frugal in the transfer market, it remains to be seen whether Spurs are willing to offer more than three times what they put on the table last summer.