Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is heading to the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
According to The Sun, Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce and chairman Steve Parish are angry with winger Wilfried Zaha after he chose to accept a call-up to join the Ivory Coast national team at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Zaha, 24, is in his second spell at Palace having had a brief stint with Manchester United, and he’s currently enjoying his best season to date having starred so far this term.
The winger has been unplayable at times this season, as he’s notched three goals and six assists in 17 Premier League appearances, leading to questions about his international future.
Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha celebrates scoring against Hull
With just two England caps – the last of which came in 2013 – Zaha had barely been considered for the England squad in recent years, and he’s now turned his back on the Three Lions in order to represent the country of his birth, the Ivory Coast.
Zaha has now been named in the provisional Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning he will depart to join up with his new team-mates after Palace’s home game with Swansea City next week.
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce
Now, with Palace facing up to life without Zaha at such a crucial point of the season, The Sun report that new Eagles boss Sam Allardyce and chairman Steve Parish are both angry with Zaha’s changed stance, given that he told former manager Alan Pardew that he would snub the Africa Cup of Nations to aid Palace’s fight against relegation.
The report adds that Palace may now consider selling Zaha in January if a club offers them £30million, with Tottenham Hotspur the most likely team to make a move for him in the new year.
Spurs wanted to land Zaha over the summer, and The Express recently reported that manager Mauricio Pochettino was lining up a £25million move to finally sign the winger during the January transfer window.
News of Palace being unhappy with Zaha’s call-up may give Spurs hope of signing him in 2017, with the report claiming that one idea had been to agree a deal in principle for the summer, with Zaha spending the rest of the season at Palace before heading to White Hart Lane at the end of the season.
However, it seems unlikely that Palace would be so willing to let their star player go just over a disagreement that will see him miss up to a month of Premier League action, and they should still put up a real fight to keep Zaha if Spurs come calling again.
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