Wilfried Zaha

[Lee]

IMO we have enough young talent coming through at the moment, I'd prefer to see us sign players who've proved themselves a little more and for longer at a higher level coming into the squad, still young 22-25 sort of range but have a few seasons under their belts.

[dww]

He is a forward scoring 1 in 9. Doesn't matter who he plays for or how old he is, that is poor.

Not taking that into seems a bit absurd. Obviously a lack of scoring record in a question mark but to use it to form a definitive opinion at this stage of his career doesn't seem well founded to me. I've not seen a lot of him play but it at least seems plausible that could have been playing wide for a number of those games.

[dww]

IMO we have enough young talent coming through at the moment, I'd prefer to see us sign players who've proved themselves a little more and for longer at a higher level coming into the squad, still young 22-25 sort of range but have a few seasons under their belts.

Seems about right. Certainly when spending significant cash we really need players to impact straight away and to lend some match experience to the team.

[Mattshark]

Not taking that into seems a bit absurd. Obviously a lack of scoring record in a question mark but to use it to form a definitive opinion at this stage of his career doesn't seem well founded to me. I've not seen a lot of him play but it at least seems plausible that could have been playing wide for a number of those games.

I'm not using it as to form a definitive opinion but it is our biggest issue right now and he is very unlikely to improve us in that respect. I'm not sure what he will give us over Sterling and Suso.

[Norbs]

I think we do, I am amazed people seem to think we are broke .. I dont think thats the case at all, I think the funds are there especially for this kind of purchase ... but what would be an appropriate price for this lad

20 ? 25 Million ?


Cause I think thats what he will go for, plus a bumper wage deal which will in turn have a knock on effect for our other starlets

hes exactly the kind of the player we should be going balls out to sign

Didn't say we were broke mate, just said we were unable to win bidding wars. You're probably right that he'll go for £20m(ish) as the London press are wanking themselves in a a frenzy about him making his England debut tomorrow

[dww]

I'm not using it as to form a definitive opinion but it is our biggest issue right now and he is very unlikely to improve us in that respect. I'm not sure what he will give us over Sterling and Suso.

I tend to agree with that but claiming that a 1 in 9 scoring rate is a 'poor' irrespective of age or club in which you play, as the post I quoted stated, just strikes me as a bit odd. As appears to be the case with that quote context is important.

[The Birdman]

If FSG sanction a £20m move for a Championship footballer who is only near the England squad because at least 10 players are unavailable then they truely are ****ing bonkers because in 15 games time when he hasn't contributed the goals and assists to justify it every single fan will be compilling lists of who we should have bought for that money.

Also, FWIW I think that he will choose the Ivory Coast, reading his interviews and only accepting the call up once it was confirmed he could still choose the IC makes it odds on he'll play for them.

That's a massive chunk of the season gone every African Nations Cup

[The Birdman]

Here's another question, is Zaha £20m better than Ngoo??
Both rangey, gangly wide forwards, once Ngoo fills out, becomes stronger and has 1 year on loan in the Championship who's to say they won't be that different in terms of what they can offer a team.

[Mattshark]

I tend to agree with that but claiming that a 1 in 9 scoring rate is a 'poor' irrespective of age or club in which you play, as the post I quoted stated, just strikes me as a bit odd. As appears to be the case with that quote context is important.

I was trying to say that he is unlikely to add to our we need, I don't think he would be a good choice of transfer target for us.

[dww]

A/ Where does the £20m figure come from
B/ A lot of people who watch the Championship think Zaha is on a different level to other players who have moved up well including the likes of Gareth Bale. I'm not in a position to have anything approaching a definitive opinion but I think it is reasonable to say that Zaha is notably further along in his development than Ngoo.

[RichC]

We're going to have a budget (I hope) come January to bring in players but I can't believe it'll be of the Suarez/Carroll proportions so we need to bring in players who can come in and add depth and quality to the squad straight away and I don't think spending what will likely be a reasonable sum of cash on this lad would be the best use of it at the moment.

I am sure he's a decent player and he has looked it from the little I've seen of him but at the present time and with the squad as it is he's not what we need IMO.

Perhaps next Summer or the year after if he's still available but for now I'd pass.

[Rich]

Depends on the budget, I suspect he's not going to be value-for-money in the short term.

However if we could pick him up for £5m plus additional payments based on player and team achievement then it is worthwhile. Albeit as long as it doesn't eat into the budget to bring in a more established attacking player.

[RichC]

That's the problem at the moment though, I think our budget will be limited and it's going to take away from money we could spend on more experienced and established players.

Annoying as he does look as if he could be a good player but I think any money we have would be better used elsewhere at the moment.

[The Birdman]

A/ Where does the £20m figure come from
B/ A lot of people who watch the Championship think Zaha is on a different level to other players who have moved up well including the likes of Gareth Bale. I'm not in a position to have anything approaching a definitive opinion but I think it is reasonable to say that Zaha is notably further along in his development than Ngoo.

The Palace chairman was quoted as saying they wouldn't even sell him for £20in January.
I'm not saying Ngoo is better right now, I'm just asking why people think the club would lump out £20m on a unproven player when we have an equally unproven but physically very similar player in our reserves.

If Ngoo had 2 years in the Championship with 9 goals in 115 games and practically no assists would there be a massive clamour to bring him back and hail him as the saviour?

I don't think anyone would be interested.

[Tee]

Wayne Rooney 15 goals in 67 games for Everton, then sold for £30m. He is **** right?

It really is quite simple and you can either acknowledge and see the talent or not. Each to their own, but I think Zaha has got something there, maybe not quite a Rooney but there clearly talent there.