Crystal Palace have a transfer replacement in mind for star winger Wilfried Zaha if Chelsea's interim sporting director and new owner Todd Boehly was to make a bold Neymar decision.
The Blues are in the process of trying to finish off their transfer window with a flurry, and now that the defensive issues are set to be solved with the imminent Wesley Fofana signing, all focus and attention will turn to matters further up the pitch. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's £22million move is looking like being back on the cards after the west Londoners reportedly had second thoughts on pursuing such a deal for a 33-year-old who is demanding a lengthy contract.
But with Callum Hudson-Odoi already gone out of the doors temporarily to Bayer Leverkusen on loan and Hakim Ziyech hoping to do the same with Ajax, Chelsea needs to put the work in now with less than two days to go to fill in the apparent gaps vacated in the squad. Zaha's name has come into the fray, and despite Chelsea making late efforts to pull off this transfer swoop for the Ivorian, football.london understands that it is unlikely at this stage, with the 29-year-old reluctant to ruin a good relationship with Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish.
READ MORE: Wilfried Zaha has already shown great Raheem Sterling relationship amid Chelsea transfer links
Neymar is a name that has also popped up in the last few hours, but whether or not Boehly can pull off such a big deal in a short-time period remains to be seen. If a move was to come off for Palace's number 11, the south Londoners would need to do some quick work before they could potentially give the green light to this deal.
And a name that has been linked to Selhurst Park already could be the key if Chelsea were to get this move done on transfer deadline day for a player who wants to prove himself at a big six club after a failed Man United spell.
Watford's Ismaila Sarr was nailed on at one point to make the move to Aston Villa, but a personal terms disagreement meant that this move fell through at the time. The Hornets are likely to keep Joao Pedro as there was a real risk that the already gone Emmanuel Dennis, Pedro and Sarr could all leave before September 1.
However, Newcastle have moved on from Pedro with the club-record signing of Alexander Isak, meaning a departure of Sadio Mane's international teammate to Croydon is highly possible if things were to pan out that would indicate a Chelsea move for Zaha was in the works.
Zaha isn't expected to start against Brentford in the Premier League on Tuesday evening as he was out with an injury over the weekend for the Man City loss. A bench place may be possible, although manager Patrick Vieira may not take the risk with the congested fixture schedule on the horizon for all clubs ahead of the FIFA Qatar World Cup break.
Chelsea fans- Wilfried Zaha or Neymar? Who would you prefer to sign and why? Crystal Palace fans- would Ismaila Sarr be a good enough replacement for Zaha? Leave your thoughts on all these questions in the comments section below!
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