Farhad Moshiri reportedly told Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha in the summer that he would play for Everton, as reports The Athletic.
Everton’s pursuit of the Ivory Coast international was heavily reported in the summer, with Sky Sports frequently reporting on the multiple bids Everton were supposed to have made, one of which was claimed to have been a £70million offer plus both Cenk Tosun and James McCarthy.
However nothing materialised between Palace and the Toffees, with reliable source Paul Joyce, of The Times, reporting on Twitter that Everton only made one bid of £52million before being out-priced by the Eagles.
Now a source close to the potential deal has told The Athletic that Moshiri personally informed Zaha that he would be an Everton player, before negotiations would break down over the Blues’ inability to pay Palace’s £80million asking fee.
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Talking to The Athletic, the source said of the situation:
The whole process with Zaha was bonkers. He was the winger at the top of the list, the guy both Marcel (Brands) and Marco (Silva) always wanted.
Moshiri personally told Zaha he would play for Everton. In the end, they couldn’t get it done with Crystal Palace. It was supposedly done, and then it wasn’t. Finally, they couldn’t agree on the transfer fee.
Zaha would go on to hand in a transfer request in order to force through a move away from Selhurst Park, but ultimately nothing would materialise for the 27-year old.
Read Everton Verdict
Zaha would have been a terrific signing if Everton had somehow managed to pull it off, and the 27-year old would likely be thriving under Carlo Ancelotti at this point.
While the forward hasn’t experienced his most goal-laden season so far, scoring just three goals in 24 Premier League appearances, his WhoScored match rating lies at 7.11, which is behind Richarlison but ahead of both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean.
The Ivory Coast international has also demonstrated his versatility, having played in many different positions for Palace this season, including right wing, left wing, false 9 and as a second striker (Transfermarkt). With Everton currently short on depth on the right, and with the club having struggled with striking options earlier in the campaign, Zaha’s inclusion in the squad would have been hugely beneficial for the Toffees.
Ultimately they were priced out of a move, and Everton rightly didn’t try to chase the white rabbit. It does then sound strange though, following Everton’s recent announcement of record financial losses (Telegraph), that Moshiri was making sweeping statements to Zaha, or that he was even that far involved in negotiations in the first place.
Needless to say, Zaha will likely have many suitors again come the summer transfer window, and it will be interested to see if Moshiri decides that he wants to test the waters in Croydon once more.
