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Manchester City: Wilfried Zaha on Pep’s radar

By Jason Bardwell

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace reacts during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace reacts during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
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As I have said in previous articles, it is the start of the silly season. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will now be linked with everyone and their son up until the close of the January transfer window. In his pre match press conference prior to the Palace game, Pep was asked about Wilfried Zaha.

Of course, the Ivory Coast International has been immense for Palace. Zero wins and zero goals at the beginning of the season for the Eagles, came as Zaha was sidelined. Rooted to the bottom of the league they were penciled in as certainties to go down. Now, having played fourteen games, Palace now find themselves above the relegation zone and on eighteen points.

The winger is certainly a talent, and probably still has something to prove at the very top-level. A transfer to United in 2013 didn’t really turn out to be what either party had hoped. Less than six months in and he returned to Palace on loan.

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Eventually returning to Selhurst Park on a permanent deal maybe now he is ready to take that step up once more. Pep certainly rates him, and if anyone can get him to the next level, it would be Pep.

Roy Hodgson, his current boss, has stated that Zaha is going nowhere. Certainly you can understand that with the stats I have just outlined above. Everybody has their price though, and it will be interesting to see how Pep interacts with Zaha when the two meet on Sunday.

How much legs this rumor actually has though is up for debate, with the ongoing pursuit of Sanchez and the depth of quality we have there currently.

Having just turned 25 though, he could represent a good purchase for City. For me though, we need to focus on reinforcements in defense in the immediate future, but maybe something could be worked out which would be beneficial for both sides.

Able to play on either wing he could rotate with Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sane as the games start coming thick and fast for the Blues. He has also been known to play striker, but for me he adds quality and competition to the two mentioned.