Christian Benteke has made it clear quite how important Wilfried Zaha is to Crystal Palace as he attracts attention from bigger clubs.
If Crystal Palace needed any more convincing that they shouldn’t even think about selling Wilfried Zaha this summer, this message from Christian Benteke should do the trick.
The Belgian has more or less admitted that everything up front in this Palace side flows through Zaha, who has certainly stood out as a top performer.
Despite flopping at Manchester United earlier in his career, the Ivory Coast international is finding form again in a second spell at Palace, which seems to have bigger sides ready to gamble on him once more.
The Daily Mail recently reported Tottenham could bid as much as £40million for the 25-year-old, while the same publication have also reported of Manchester City taking a close look at him.
Palace, however, may want to take this line from Benteke in an interview with their official site as a warning of the task they’d face of replacing their star attacker were they to cash in on him this summer.
“Wilf is a major player for us as we all know every action and every chance we create is going to come from him,” Benteke told Palace’s website.
“I would say our offensive play is based on him. He is a big player for the team and he has done a lot for this club. We know to have him in this side is a big boost.
“Sometimes as a striker, you don’t get a lot of chances. With him, he will always bring two or three players around him so I can get a little bit of freedom.”
Palace look – only just – like they will survive in the Premier League this season. Sell Zaha this year and it’s surely certain relegation next.
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