Chelsea Linked Again With £80million Wing-Wizard: The Marquee Signing They Need

Chelsea continue to be linked with a move for Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha, but the Eagles are not budging from their high valuation.

Crystal Palace want at least £80million for the attacker as per the Mail, a player they re-signed from Manchester United for a third of the fee they initially received in 2013.

Chelsea have been cleared to sign new players in the January transfer window, and considering their Jekyll and Hyde form so far this season, we believe that Frank Lampard could jump into the market straight away in January and make a few big signings.

Zaha has been a bit of a mixed bag this season, as he hasn’t been able to get on the score-sheet regularly for the Eagles.

Wilfried Zaha to Chelsea – He would be the marquee signing they need

Having mustered just three goals and two assists in 17 Premier League games, you’d think that Zaha has had a poor season. However, you need to look beyond that.

Palace aren’t a fluent attacking team under Roy Hodgson, so Zaha’s numbers were never going to be astounding, though they should be better than just the three goals. With an extremely pragmatic set-up, Palace have managed to score just 15 goals in 17 games, and only Watford have scored fewer.

The Eagles’ gameplan is essentially safety first as they have conceded just 19 goals, so understandably there haven’t been too many goals.

Where Zaha has impressed is with his ability to break forward, which is essentially the only thing the Place set-up permits him to do. He likes taking on players, and has attempted 4.6 dribbles a game this season on an average, which is significantly higher than any Chelsea attacker.

With the ability to create something out of nothing, Zaha’s close-control and dribbling ability would come in handy for Chelsea, who often see more of the ball.

It’s worth pointing out that Zaha will get to play with better players at Chelsea, and that could potentially see his numbers improve significantly. While Willian has struggled to impress, the duo of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic have been inconsistent.

Zaha is at the peak of his prowess, and deserves another shot at a big club. His quality means he can be deemed a marquee signing, but the fee a bit high for him.

Having said that, it’s unlikely Palace will settle for anything lower, and in today’s market, players do seem to go for at least double their value.

Stats via Whoscored