Wilfried Zaha, Is Crystal Palace too small for him now?

One of the most talented footballers not playing for one of the Big Six teams in the English Premier League, Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is an interesting case in the land of English football. Talented enough for a bigger team, the winger has stayed for many years at his boyhood club despite his own efforts to leave. Now at 28 years old, has the time to leave arrived?

The case of Wilfried Zaha is a very interesting story in the modern day English Premier League. After a season at Manchester United under David Moyes, where he didn’t get a lot of opportunities as a young player, Wilfried Zaha decided to return to his first club, Crystal Palace, back in 2014 in order to get his career back on track. He has done that and even more. Wilfred Zaha has been Crystal Palace’s best player for quite some time now and he has proven capable of winning games on his own, often saving the team for relegation and being one of the most consistent players in the English Premier League.

Now, a few years after his return at Crystal Palace, things haven’t been as simple as some may think. There have been a few occasions where Wilfred Zaha wanted to leave the club and the board didn’t let him, which has resulted in him being close to his thirties and still remain as part of his boyhood club. Is this the time for Wilfried Zaha to leave Crystal Palace and sign for a bigger team? I believe so. At 28 years old, his prime is going to an end and that is something worth taking into account. His chances for a bigger contract are going to be slipping and he needs to seize this great moment of his to get one final great paycheck.

And even if we leave money aside, there is also the matter of ambitions. Wilfred Zaha has not won anything at Crystal Palace and has not played for trophies, so there is a certain desire in him of wanting to go to another club and being able for play for trophies, which is what any ambitious player really wants. There are a couple of English clubs that have shown interest in Zaha throughout the years, with the most notorious being Arsenal, with Wilfried Zaha himself stating that then-manager Unai Emery reached out to him and they were close to make the transfer happen, but the board didn’t finish the deal.

Time is running out for Wilfred Zaha and his prime years, so he needs to make a decision in the coming months because it can lead to a very important change in his career.