Transfer rumors messed with my head, admits Wilfried Zaha

Transfer rumors messed with my head, admits Wilfried Zaha

Crystal Palace forward Wilfred Zaha says his head “was all over the place” because of the constant speculation surrounding his future. Wilfred Zaha was constantly linked to a number of Premier League clubs like Arsenla and Everton and the forward himself had the desire to leave Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha had a desire to leave Palace and join a team with European dreams. This led to a lot of speculation of him moving to another Premier League club. BBC reports say that Zaha’s head was all over the place because of the transfer speculation at the beginning of the season. However, the Ivorian stayed at the club as Palace were quick in turning down mega offers from Arsenal and Everton. Zaha came through the ranks at Crystal Palace before moving to Manchester United in 2013 but returned to Selhurst Park in less than two years after failing to start a single league game for the Red Devils.

“I had to put my head down and play my football. I would have been hindering my own progress by moaning and not wanting to perform properly. I have too much respect for my manager, the fans and my team-mates to treat them that way. It was a thing where 'OK, this hasn't happened but I've got to get on with it'. I've got to prove every time that I'm the top player I claim to be so I had to get over that quickly. Obviously my head was a bit all over the place at the beginning of the season but I had to nail down and just get on with it because the team deserved that," said Zaha.

Ever since his return to Palace, he has managed 35 goals in 189 matches and has turned into one of the top forwards at the Eagles. His quality attracted praise from a lot of pundits and prompted him to pursue a new club which offered European football. The 26-year-old was continuously linked to Arsenal and Everton throughout the window. Everton also placed an official bid of £40 million for the forward but the bid was rejected. Zaha too was keen to move away from Palace and also submitted a transfer request on the transfer deadline day. However, the London club didn’t grant him his wish to leave. Zaha had the desire to leave but now says that he remains focused on helping the club.

"I'm seeing how it goes. I'm a Crystal Palace player and I'm just trying to perform to the best of my ability for my club. I'm not thinking about anything else and just taking each day as it comes. The season's gone well so far. We've got a lot more in us and I'm happy with the squad and everyone's happy with where we are right now. All I can do is perform on the pitch. I'm trying to be a consistent performer on the pitch week in, week out. Last season I set myself a target of 10 goals and managed to get 10, so I was happy. Hopefully, I can reach my goals again - that's all that's on my mind," concluded the Ivorian. 

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