1 Dec 2012

'We'll look at offers' - Chairman admits 'unplayable' £20m LFC target will leave. Bid?

Over the last few months, Crystal Palace co-Chairman Steve Parish has made quite a few public statements about Liverpool and Arsenal target Wilfred Zaha, and in his latest comments, he contradicts himself over offers received for the coveted wing-star.

In an interview on Thursday, Parish conceded that Zaha 'will play for a top side in the Premier League' at some point, but insisted that the youngster would not be moving in January. He said:

"He [Zaha] will definitely be playing at Crystal Palace after January. Why would we sell him? What would we achieve by selling him?"

Parish then claimed that no clubs had contacted Palace about signing Zaha:

"Nobody has contacted me from any of the clubs who are supposedly interested in him though. When offers are put in front of us we will look at them.

"If something was put in front of us and we spoke to the player and he wanted to go we would have to consider it"


This conflicts with a statement Parish made two weeks ago, when he told Weekend Sports Breakfast:

“We’ve had a couple of opportunistic bids, but none that you would really take seriously".

Clearly, there would have to be contact with interested clubs for offers to be made, no? The good news is Palace will listen to offers, and it seems likely that Zaha will want to move to the Premier League sooner rather than later.

Liverpool were linked with a move for Zaha in the January 2012 transfer window, and last month, Parish slapped a massively inflated price tag on Zaha, who he described as an 'extraordinary talent'. He told the Daily Mail:

"I said at the start of the season that keeping hold of Wilf would be like spending a lot of money on a transfer. Other sides can fly their kites but it would take £20m before we even got interested".

£20m for a 19-year old who has never played in the Premier League? Totally ridiculous, and it will never happen. Indeed, I doubt Zaha is too impressed to see Palace basically pricing him out of a dream move to one of England's top clubs.

After Peterborough's defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend, Posh boss Darren Ferguson delivered a glowing assessment of Zaha:

"He [Zaha] is the best player in this league and will go to the top. He was unplayable at times"

Liverpool legend Dietmar Hamann is a little perturbed by the hype surrounding Zaha, and in a recent Twitter exchange, he suggested that the 20-year old may be a little overrated. He explained:

"I don't like all the hype that's already circling round the kid Zaha. Yes he is exceptionally talented but that's all it is so far. Lessons seem not to have been learnt from Walcott a few years ago. The kids need protecting not hyping up.

Hamann is clearly right. Zaha is totally untested at the highest level, yet people are hyping him up as if he's achieved something majorly significant in the game.

Zaha has 4 goals and 4 assists in 20 games for Palace this season, and he hasn't scored for 9 consecutive games now. Good, but not worth £20m (!) Whether Liverpool are in with a chance of signing him is a different matter, and at present, it doesn't seem like a viable possibility.

Tom Ince is arguably a better, cheaper option, and with 11 goals and 7 assists in 17 games this season (in the same league), he's performing at a far higher level than Zaha.



Jaimie Kanwar


32 comments:

  1. Had Mr Kanwar been on the ball here, he would have know that Parrish was referring to bids received in the closed season, not bids received recently.
    I have no problem with speculative reporting but let's at least get our facts right shall we!!

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  2. And what about "I doubt Zaha is too impressed to see Palace basically pricing him out of a dream move to one of England's top clubs". Well, maybe Zaha is grateful that he's not being sold to the highest bidder too early in his career and being ruined....like Bostock, Johnson, Wright-Phillips, etc etc.

    And one more thing: "one of England's top clubs"? But you're talking about Liverpool!? Shouldn't you have said one of England's also rans?

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  3. 20 m? Is he really worth that much? Let other team take the risk we will find other.

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  4. jaimie on another subject just been looking at rodgers managerial career hes only been in charge for 151 games won 81 drew33 lost 56 at lfc all games played 25 won 9 drew 9 lost 7 why the hell did fsg put a man with so little experience in charge is beyond me and before every one jumps on the swansea band wagon there were only 2 players he signed playing for them last week

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  5. Wilf is a Londoner who grew up as an Arsenal fan. You've got no chance of signing him however much you try to talk down the price. He's also on a very long contract with Palace who need him for their promotion push this season. Nor is the lad responsible for all the hype. That's just journalists trying to fill the gaps between the adverts. When you've overpaid for the likes of Downing and Carroll, people will see you coming.

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  6. Paisely, Fagan and Dalglish had zero managerial experience before before taking over at LFC.

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  7. How many of ince goals have come from the pen spot? doesn't being brought down for a pen count as an assist? Ince or Zaha you have got no chance of signing either. your still living in the 80's you are not a top 10 club let alone a title challenger.leave the boy alone and let him improve at a club that will play him. 20million in 2 to 3 years time will be a bargain.

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  8. Yeah, but they inherited successful teams and keep up the good work. Don't know what my point is. Didn't sleep much last night.

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  9. When has that happened? Name a few young English attacking players who were hyped up in their teens then went on to command 20m+ fees in their early 20s...

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  10. The truth is, the only ones who know how good Wilf is are those who have seen him play. Everyone else can only guess. I wouldn't swap him for anyone in The Liverpool team bar none.

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  11. Agree completely. Ince is performing really well at the moment

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  12. Your numbers don't add up there.

    FSG went for someone that they believed could build a winning strategy from ground up.

    We need a player to take the scoring load off Suarez. Oscar Cardozo would be absolutely perfect.

    We have had more shots on goal and on target than almost every other team, just need to up conversion rate

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  13. Where is David Beckham from?

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  14. get ince pls! cheaper and i dont want to see manu playing ince as a substitute !!

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  15. paiselyand fagan had years at the club so did kenny rodgers his not up to the job imo and i whilst i can tolerate another woeful performance today i cannot listen to anymore of roders sh1te excuses

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  16. sorry 161 games its still crap so what about last year hit the woodwork more than any other side another rodgers diciple some people on hear think hes beyond reproach well i will be glad when the clown leaves and if he can take the f"cking circus called fsg all the better

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  17. Rodgers has a lot of potential.

    But this potential may be stifled by a lack of senior talent in the squad.

    Board need to buy him a few decent attackers, and if they won't, BR needs to put pressure on them and do what Rafa did. Highlight that he is being setup to fail.

    Football is headed towards FFP, and the FSG stated position should be ideal, but surely the manager needs to be armed with proper resources. Tom Ince and Cardozo would be a good start

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  18. rodgers has bought players and dose not even play them as his the case yet again today except golden boy allen

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  19. Personally, Ince would be a better buy. I also read that Barca are willing to loan out Gerard Deulofeu, now that would be some positive business for LFC if we are able to get him :D

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  20. Not contradictory, he said that he had not heard from the clubs "supposedly interested in him", which clearly are not the ones making the "opportunistic bids".

    I would like to see both Ince and Zaha at Anfield, although anything above £8-10 million for Zaha would mean overpaying for a young promising player. Ince is certainly looking good, shame we lost him last year - bringing him back would be a smart move from Rodgers.

    Much, much more important for Liverpool however would be to bring in a top-class creative midfielder like Eriksen (my first choice) or Isco, together with a proven (but not impossibly expensive) goalscorer like Huntelaar. Eriksen together with a proven goalscorer and a younger talented forward like Ince would make great additions for a promising Liverpool team in need of creativity and finishing quality in the upper third of the pitch.

    PS As Jamie suggested recently, Charlie Austin would be another player to consider, but only as a complement and not as a substitute to must-have players like Eriksen and perhaps Huntelaar.

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  21. Not excited about loan signings, especially players that Barcelona would almost certainly be looking to take back at the end of the season. FSG have to support Rodgers with serious money to bring in top quality players to Anfield on permanent deals.

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  22. It might well be better for Zaha to stay at Crystal Palace, at least until the end of the season, hopefully bringing you up to the EPL. However, if he did want to leave now for an EPL club, I cannot think of a better club for him than Liverpool. If he has the quality, he will be played, as we have seen with Sterling and Suso this season.

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  23. I think the days of Liverpool overpaying are well and truly behind us. What I am concerned about is our owners understanding that they still have to put up serious funds to buy the top players we need, such as Eriksen and Isco. They will not come cheap, but (unlike many of the players bought by Comolli) they will be well worth the price.

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  24. You mean squad players like Assaidi for £2 million (I cannot think of anyone else) and youth players like Yesil? Rodgers essentially bought two players for the first team over the summer, Allen and Borini, and although Borini had not bedded in before his injury both have had significant playing time.

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  25. Ince sounds like a good idea, provided the price is right. I don't think Cardoso would be the right player for Liverpool, Eriksen or Isco and someone like Huntelaar would be the kind of players Rodgers needs to create a winning team.

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  26. Paisley and Fagan were members of the boot room for ages, working under no other than Bill Shankly, which made up for it. Dalglish was amazing, he came in as player-manager and had instant success, however I cannot see many repeating that in today's sophisticated football world. Tito Villanova and Pep Guardiola were promoted from within, but again had had preparatory roles prior to becoming managers in their own right. The success of Steve Clarke at West Brom seems to reinforce the point that there is no better way of becoming a great manager than learning-by-doing.

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  27. Although I agree with you and felt that Liverpool should have brought back Rafa, I must differ on your opinion of the evolution of the team under Rodgers. We clearly need to bring in some top players and Rodgers has to make that point forcefully to FSG, however the current team with two additional top players (Eriksen/Isco and a proven goalscorer like perhaps Huntelaar) and a 1-2 promising younger players (Ince and perhaps Austin) would transform this team into one challenging for the CL places this season and the EPL the next.

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  28. ... sorry about the messy grammar, I meant that these additions would transform the team ...

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  29. Wilfred Zaha for 20 milion?Very expensive and not for value.I think very much better 20 milion invest for Christian Erikson and Thomas Mueller.

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  30. your right but the only two players he signed in that team helped them to gain promotion! he signed Neil taylor (injured) on a free! scott sinclair (sold for a massive profit to go sit on citys bench) steven caulker (a rock in tottenhams defence) Borini (currently injured but a young tallent who helped them score the goals to gain promotion) Danny graham (also scored the goals to gain promotin + injured at the moment) gilfy (one of the best january signings for years!) vorm for £1.5m which was a steal! routladge who for my mind was a wanderer who was destined to play till he was 32 for 32 different clubs until rodgers came in and guided him into filling some of his potential? (vorm and routladge being the players you talked about?) without these players swansea would not have been promoted and as you said he did inherit a very good side but, they were always just short of being promotion contendors!!! who were liverpool going to attract? we have gone from turmoil to chaos! rodgers was the best of the candidates we were interviewing and so far without having more than one fit striker has worked miricles with the liverpool side! so before you start flaunting stats just see the bigger picture for a change and realize that a true liverpool fan will always support their team and manager!!!!

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  31. The £20m figure was quoted by Palace's co-chairman Steve Parish to frighten off Wilf's suitors and to remind them that CPFC are on a stable financial footing, with no need to sell academy players to survive (see Victor Moses, now at Chelsea, via Wigan).
    Palace have a real chance of promotion, which could net them £60m-plus in TV money and (being realistic) parachute payments. Selhurst Park is in dire need of rebuilding and Prem/TV cash would help make that a reality. Jeopardising all that to cash in on Zaha in January would be damaging to the club's long-term prospects. It would take an insanely high bid to tempt Parish and co to sell. WZ is very exciting but still raw, though his potential is huge. I reckon Arsenal will get him, but not until the summer.

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