According to Sky Sports, Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has told the Eagles that he wants to move elsewhere this summer to play Champions League football next season.

Palace do not want to part with the winger, as he has been one of their standout players in recent seasons. However, this is not the first he has expressed a wish to play Champions League football so the side from the capital may have to consider selling the forward.

Enjoyed another impressive campaign

Zaha is no doubt a talented performer, as his ten Premier League goals in 29 games prove. The figure does not sound that prolific for a forward player. However, it is easy to forget that he plays in a team that is hardly full of goals.

In fact, the Eagles have struggled for goals for the last few seasons. Zaha has been their main goal threat with former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke enduring a terrible couple of seasons with the Eagles.

His form in a struggling team has definitely attracted attention from elsewhere. A few summers ago, Zaha looked set for a big-money move to Tottenham. However, Palace priced him out of the move and he remained with the Eagles. In the January transfer window, German giants Dortmund made an enquiry about the services of the winger. Those enquiries obviously did not go well, as Zaha remained with the Eagles.

Ready to move on

While anybody of a Palace persuasion will not want to hear this, Zaha is now ready to test himself at a higher level. The Eagles made the forward and then revived his career after a failed stint at Manchester United.

However, the forward has paid back Palace’s efforts with his displays that have helped the Eagles maintain their top-flight status. In reality, the Eagles maintain objective every season will be just to maintain their top-flight status.

For a player of Zaha’s undoubted ability, playing in a struggling team is not enough. He is a big fish in a small pond. However, he deserves to try the water elsewhere, as he is a different player to the one who failed at United. At 26 years of age, he has matured and is not the same naïve youngster who struggled for game time at Old Trafford. Zaha now seems ready both talent wise and mentally to play at the top-level of the game.

Palace will not sell easily

Wilfried Zaha signed a new bumper contract last summer that expires in the summer of 2023. That means that Palace are likely to demand a substantial fee for the forward, who reportedly the Eagles valued at £70million last summer.

Arsenal are the favourites to sign the forward, while north London rivals Tottenham are also high in the betting to secure the forward’s signature. Dortmund now seems unlikely to renew their interest in the star this summer, though.

It remains to be seen if Wilfried Zaha will get his wish to leave Crystal Palace. However, as a neutral, it would seem a shame if a talented player such as Zaha was stuck in a team fighting for their Premier League lives for the rest of his career.

Where will Wilfried Zaha be plying his trade next season?