Exclusive: Everton want Wilfried Zaha and are willing to pay £60m plus Cenk Tosun but fear missing out to Chelsea
Everton have told Crystal Palace they are prepared to pay £60 million plus striker Cenk Tosun for Wilfired Zaha, but fear they could miss out to Chelsea.Telegraph Sport understands that Chelsea are weighing up a bid for Zaha that would take him to Stamford Bridge once the club have served their transfer ban.
Chelsea are currently serving their two-window ban and cannot sign players this summer. They have lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the fear remains they will also be prevented from making any new signings in January.
That may suit Palace, as it would most likely allow Zaha to spend the coming season at Selhurst Park and would also improve their chances of signing Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi, who spent last season on loan with the Eagles.
Chelsea are yet to make any firm move for 26-year-old Zaha, but the playersis thought to be aware of their potential interest in setting up a transfer for when their ban ends.
Everton want to do a deal now and have indicated a willingness to send Tosun to Palace as well as pay £60m, which is far closer to Palace’s valuation of Zaha and is comfortably more than Arsenal’s first bid of £40m.
Palace have previously been interested in Tosun and Everton are making it clear how serious they are by offering to shatter their transfer record to try to land Zaha.
But the former Manchester United forward has made it clear that he wants to join a club that he believes will compete in the Champions League and favours a move to either Arsenal or Chelsea.
With Arsenal currently struggling to come up with the funds to match Palace’s £80m valuation, Chelsea may see an opportunity to offer a deal that could suit all parties.
Christian Pulisic has joined Chelsea after agreeing his move in January, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is on the verge of signing a new £100,000-a-week contract.
But Eden Hazard left for Real Madrid and Pedro and Olivier Giroud only have one year remaining on their contracts. Willian is hoping to sign a new contract that will commit him to Chelsea until 2021.
Chelsea would certainly have no problem in meeting Palace’s demands, as they have banked up to £130m for Hazard and also sold Alvaro Morata to Atlético Madrid in a deal worth £58m.
There could also be further departures with Chelsea thought to be ready to consider offers for midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, who has so far failed to shine in pre-season.
Bakayoko spent last season on loan at AC Milan and may be allowed to go out on loan again or move away permanently. Paris Saint-Germain have shown an interest in the former Monaco star.
Other than worrying that Chelsea could enter the race for Zaha, Everton are also beginning to resign themselves to the fact they will not be able to sign defender Kurt Zouma.Zouma spent last season on loan at Everton, where he impressed, but Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard wants the Frenchman as part of his squad.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/07/25/everton-want-wilfried-zaha-willing-pay-60m-plus-cenk-tosun-fear/
