Former Arsenal hero Paul Merson believes Crystal Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha would be a good signing for Chelsea.
The former England international also thinks that those who judge the winger on his difficult spell with Manchester United are being harsh. Zaha, who joined the Palace academy aged 12, struggled to break into the Red Devils first team after making the move to Old Trafford in 2013.
After just four appearances in two years, with loan spells at Cardiff City and two returns to Palace, the winger re-joined the Eagles on a permanent basis in 2015 and has continued to flourish ever since.
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Every transfer window that has come and gone, Zaha has been heavily linked with a move away from Selhurst Park. With just one year left on his current Eagles contract and with the summer transfer deadline day around the corner (Thursday, September 1), reports suggest Zaha could be on his way to either Chelsea or Arsenal.
Merson, who has encouraged the Gunners to sign Zaha in the past, believes the winger could follow similar footsteps to the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah. Both failed to make an impact at Chelsea but have since gone on to become two of the Premier League’s best players with Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.
Merson told Sportskeeda: “[Wilfried] Zaha has been linked with a move to Chelsea and it remains to be seen if he will secure a transfer before the deadline. I think a lot of people judged him based on his Manchester United stint and I think that’s a bit unfair.
“The likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah didn’t quite make the grade at Chelsea, but look at them now! Zaha has added goals to his game and will be a really good signing for Chelsea, in my opinion.”
Before deadline day, Palace welcome Brentford to Selhurst Park for a Premier League clash on Tuesday night. The Bees have once again had an impressive start to the season, with a 4-0 thrashing of Man United at home, along with draws against Leicester City and Everton.
Palace head into the fixture on the back of their 4-2 defeat at Manchester City, despite stunning the Etihad by going two goals up in 21 minutes. Zaha missed the fixture with a knock and remains a doubt to face Brentford.
“This is an interesting game of football. Palace did so well in the first-half against Manchester City and if Wilfried Zaha had played, they could’ve punished them a lot more and come out with a positive result,” said Merson.
“However, that wasn’t going to be the case as the reigning Premier League champions staged a spirited fightback to win the game 4-2. This game [against Brentford] will largely depend on Zaha’s fitness, but I fancy Palace to come out on top. They’ve shown their quality this season and are a decent team at home, so I think they’ll win 2-1.”
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