Arsenal have reportedly made a £40m offer for Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha, which is nowhere near his touted price-tag this summer.
The Gunners are coming off the back of a disappointing campaign in which they failed to break back into the top four in the Premier League and fell short in the Europa League final to be left trophyless.
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With that in mind, Unai Emery will be desperate to see reinforcements arrive this summer to bolster his squad and give them a better chance next season, but ultimately it could prove to be very difficult to bring in his top target.
According to The Sun, Arsenal have made a £40m offer for Zaha, but with Crystal Palace said to be valuing the 26-year-old at closer to £80m, that is significantly short of being enough to convince them to sell regardless of his reported desire to make the move to the Emirates.
It’s noted that Arsenal are said to only have around £45m to spend this summer, and so it’s certainly difficult to see how they will be able to match Palace’s demands.
Meanwhile, highly respected BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein has delivered a bit more insight into the matter and has revealed that Arsenal’s pursuit of Zaha is ‘getting predictably ugly’ while no players have been offered as part of a swap deal, as per his tweet below.
As per @SkyKaveh Arsenal have submitted opening bid for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. No players offered yet as part of proposed deal. Will be rejected & is getting predictably ugly. As previously reported Zaha wants to join #AFC & Emery wants him but #CPFC want huge money
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 1, 2019
In turn, it remains to be see how the situation plays out as although there is still a long way to go this summer, the Gunners have decisions to make as they won’t want to waste time chasing Zaha if a deal isn’t likely while spending their entire reported budget on one player doesn’t sound like a smart move either.
Especially after their porous defence let in 51 goals in 38 Premier League games last season, giving them the second worst defensive record of the top nine sides, there is a need to strengthen elsewhere too besides with Zaha.
