The Crystal Palace and Ivory Coast ace has been linked with Spurs in recent weeks.
Jamie O’Hara has criticised reports linking Tottenham Hotspur with Wilfried Zaha, suggesting that the Crystal Palace ace would be a “bit-part” player at Spurs, who in turn should look at signing “world-class” talent.
According to the Bleacher Report, the Lilywhites, along with Manchester United, are interested in securing the services of the Ivory Coast international from their Premier League rivals in the summer transfer window.
The report goes on to suggest that Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a fan of Zaha’s “style, quality and personality”, and believes the player would be a good fit in his team and at their state-of-the-art new stadium.
However, while O’Hara – who came through the ranks at Tottenham and was on their books between 2003 and 2011 – admits the winger is a great footballer with substantial Premier League experience, he feels Pochettino already has plenty of wide options in his setup.
“Zaha is a fantastic player and a great prospect but I think Tottenham need to be looking at someone now who is going to change that team and add to that team,” O’Hara told Love Sport Radio. “Does Zaha start in front of [Lucas] Moura or [Christian] Eriksen or Son? I don’t think so.
“I think they need to really strengthen in midfield. I’d like to see them sign a world-class midfielder. That’s the first thing Tottenham need to do. They need a couple but I’d like to see them go for someone special just to say ‘we’ve arrived now, we’ve got our stadium, this is what we’re thinking and this is where we’re going’. They don’t need to sign bit-part players.”
Spurs have not made a signing since January 2018, when Lucas Moura joined the club but the Love Sport Radio report suggests that the purse strings will be loosened in the upcoming transfer window now the move into the new stadium has been made.
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