Darren Bent has claimed that Arsenal transfer target, Wilfried Zaha, would be a ‘great signing’ for Chelsea if he leaves Crystal Palace, as he told talkSPORT.
The 29-year-old was dubbed ‘impossible to mark’ by Bent and with one-year remaining on his contract at Selhurst Park and there is talk of the player possibly leaving before Thursday’s deadline.
Arsenal have always been long-term admirers of the player, whilst Chelsea are also sniffing around for his signature – he scored his fourth goal of the new Premier League season on Tuesday night.
During his younger days, Zaha did make that step up to Manchester United, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement six months later didn’t help the player’s cause.
That’s when Manchester United’s demise started, so what chance does a rising star such as Zaha have? And as proved to be the case, no chance.
But fast forward to the present and the all-action winger is playing the best football of his career, added with a sense of maturity to his game.
Could he be a possible surprise exit ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline? Well, Bent thinks if Chelsea added him to their ranks, then he and Raheem Sterling will cause problems.
“If Chelsea were to come in and get him, then I think it’s a great signing, I really do,” said Bent. “It maybe came too early for him (Zaha at Manchester United). He certainly looks at home at Palace. That’s his football club. But Chelsea aren’t buying for the future, they are buying players for right now.
“You look at what Chelsea have right now, other than Sterling, he is better than what they have got. He is more consistent and it was his best goalscoring season last year with 14.
“I think you know what you are going to get with Zaha. At one stage with Wilfried, it was a bit like Saint-Maximin. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. He had all these tricks, but you don’t know when the ball is going to come in. He is almost impossible to mark one v one. He toys with people.
“If you put him on one side, then Sterling on the other, then they are two very, very good players.”
ZAHA HAS A BIG CALL TO MAKE
If Zaha wants to jump a level, then it seems as though the door is open right now for him to do so, but equally, he is playing his best football for an ever-progressing Palace side.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea would benefit from his signature and talents and he is more than capable of starting for both, as well as taking those sides to the next level.
However, Zaha has labelled Palace as ‘family’ before so it might be a case that he doesn’t just stay on, but also pens down a new contract.
If that happens, then there is no reason why Patrick Vieira can’t push Palace towards Europe.
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