Everton make stunning £55m bid for Arsenal transfer target Zaha
EVERTON have reportedly made a sensational £55million bid for Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha.
The winger has long been linked with a summer transfer to Arsenal – but the Toffees appear to have sneaked to the front of the queue.
Arsenal are reportedly close to tying up a mouthwatering £72m deal for Lille ace Nicolas Pepe shunting Zaha down the shortlist.
And now, according to Sky Sports, Marco Silva has seized his chance and gone in for the Ivory Coast winger.
His signing would soften the blow of wonderkid Ademola Lookman leaving Goodison Park.
The England U21 star moved to German side RB Leipzig in a surprise £22.5m deal last week.
ZAHA IN, LOOKMAN OUT
Lookman, 21, becomes the latest Young Lions ace to head to the Bundesliga in search of first-team football.
Leipzig were not the only club chasing Lookman though, as Palace themselves considered him to be a potential replacement for Zaha.
It brings an end to his time at Everton which yielded just one Premier League goal in 36 appearances following an £11m switch from Charlton in January 2017.
Lookman will now link up with Chelsea star Ethan Ampadu at Leipzig – after he secured a season-long loan to the German giants.
PALACE AIM TO KEEP
The 18-year-old has been at Stamford Bridge for two years since signing from Exeter City.
Crystal Palace have re-iterated all summer that their star man Zaha isn’t for sale, so it will be interesting to see what plays out next.
As news of the move for Pepe broke on Saturday, Gunners fans seemed glad that focus had switched to him from Zaha.
Fans on social media spent almost as much time trolling Palace star Zaha over his faltering hopes of joining Arsenal as they did hailing Pepe.
Memes shared on Twitter depicted a crestfallen Zaha reading how the Gunners were poised to beat the world’s richest club – United – and Champions League winners Liverpool to 24-year-old Pepe.
One tweet suggested Zaha would feel “betrayed” as he “read all the Nicolas Pepe tweets”.
Another showed a cartoon version of Zaha in an Arsenal shirt crying over his broken dream as he now contemplated Everton stepping up their pursuit.