Newcastle United are keen to sign Wilfried Zaha and could now beat West Ham United to the Crystal Palace winger’s signature this summer.
The Magpies are expected to be in the market for another winger this summer despite signing Anthony Gordon in January.
Moussa Diaby is one name strongly linked of late but Newcastle could look a little closer to home.
The Daily Star report that Newcastle have a ‘long-running’ interested in signing Crystal Palace wide man Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha is out of contract at Palace this summer and look set to end his long association with the Eagles.
Newcastle appear to be keen on a bargain deal and Zaha is keen to play in European action next season.
The Magpies aren’t alone in this race though as West Ham United are very interested in signing Zaha.
The report even notes that West Ham officials think Zaha may want to stay in London and pick West Ham over Newcastle.
That would be a surprise given West Ham’s struggles this season but maybe Newcastle would face a real battle.
Eddie Howe is a fan of Wilfried Zaha
This rumour sounds a little strange on the face of it but rumours about interest in Zaha aren’t exactly flooding in at the moment.
The 30-year-old is now injured and really needs to take this last big chance of a move to a European club this summer.
Newcastle should have European action on offer and they do place a focus on Premier League experience.
Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Chris Wood and Anthony Gordon all played plenty of Premier League football before joining Newcastle.
Exceptions have been made for truly top talents in Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak but Eddie Howe seems to fancy proven Premier League players.
Zaha fits that bill and Newcastle boss Howe has actually praised him in the past.
Speaking to the Daily Echo back in 2018, Howe noted that Zaha is ‘difficult to stop’ because he can make anything happen on the ball.
Howe added that Zaha can dribble past players when it seems ‘impossible’ and he would have hated to face the Ivorian in his playing days.
Howe may now sense his opportunity to sign Zaha for absolutely nothing and Newcastle should feel confident of beating West Ham if they really are keen.
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