There are a number of players that Arsenal have been linked with this year and some of them are nothing more than wishful thinking because of their reported transfer valuation but some did feel like they would be within our range, Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace as an example.
However, it looks like we can now put Zaha in the category of wishful thinking if the rumours that Palace are demanding £100 Million for him are true.
That is a stupendous amount and he is not worth it, nowhere near it. Zaha is a very good player make no mistake about that but he is not world class and only a club with zero economic sense would even consider splashing out that sort of cash for him, so maybe Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea or Paris Saint Germain will sign him.
I can think of at least three players we could sign that are as good as the Palace forward for a grand total of £100 Million.
Think about that, three players at an average price of £33 Million or one player for £100 Million and those three players on their own are just as good as what Zaha is, I mean, where does Palace get this valuation from?
I have already stated that Zaha is a good player but a return of ten goals and five assists is not £100 Million quality and too often he does lack an end product.
Another factor that should be considered is that the 26-year-old has reportedly informed the Eagles that he wants to leave for a club in the Champions League and so they are hardly in the best position to sell at a premium price.
Player valuations are simply getting stupid now and that forces the players to use their power and if Palace do price the Ivory Coast international out of the market they will end up with a player that is unhappy, less productive and who will end up forcing his value down.
It is probably unlikely now that we will be signing Zaha even if Palace were to drop their valuation because anything over £40 Million is beyond our reach really and I cannot see them slashing £60 Million off their asking price.