Wilfried Zaha's transfer to Galatasaray is already getting heated
The former Crystal Palace forward turned down offers from PSG, Lazio, and even rivals Fenerbahce. Was it worth it?
Deolu Akingbade writes about every big (African) transfer from July 2 onwards. He targets Ivorian winger Wilfried Zaha, who recently just moved to Turkish side Galatasaray on a free transfer.
Read about Andre Onana’s transfer to United.
Read about Jonathan Bamba’s transfer to Celta.
Read about Seko Fofana’s transfer to Al-Nassr.
Read about Riyad Mahrez’s transfer to Al Ahli.
The Facts
Wilfried Zaha was born in Abidjan in November 1992 but moved to South London when he was four years old. Zaha joined the Crystal Palace Academy when he turned 12 and stuck with the team until he was 18. He quickly made an impact with Crystal Palace, playing with the senior squad during their Championship days from 2009 to 2013.
He moved to Manchester United for 13 million dollars in 2013 but made just two appearances for the squad in two seasons. Zaha endured a number of loan spells, including two stints back at Selhurst Park and a brief winter loan to Cardiff City. He returned to Crystal Palace permanently for around $4.25 million and became a Palace legend.
Zaha played seven-and-a-half seasons in his fourth stint with Crystal Palace, steadily earning a reputation as a sneaky trickster and agile dribbler stuck on a mediocre team. Throughout the years, a host of Champions League clubs (PSG, Dortmund, Lazio, Arsenal) have bid for him, but a mix of loyalty and unluckiness has kept Zaha away from European action. His move with Galatasaray, currently set to face Lithuanian club Žalgiris in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.
The Rumors
Zaha has officially signed with Turkish side Galatasaray, reigning champions of the Super Lig who are set to enter qualifying for the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League. After turning down offers from Al-Nassr, Fenerbahce, and Crystal Palace, the Ivorian winger signs with Galatasaray on a three-year deal stretching until 2026.
The 30-year-old will receive a $94,000-per-week deal, which looks slim compared to Crystal Palace’s $192,000-per-week deal and Al-Nassr’s $750,000-per-week offer. However, Zaha will get the benefit of playing in a European continental league for the first time ever.
Galatasaray have also officially signed Al-Nasr forward Cédric Bakambu, with Leipzig left-back Angeliño joining the Turkish squad on loan. Reports claim that ex-PSG striker Mauro Icardi has inked a new, permanent deal with Galatasary, while the team is also going after United midfielder Fred and Fiorentina’s Luka Jovic.
Crystal Palace are also making moves in the mercato. The club signed Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma on a free transfer, with more transfers yet to come. Crystal Palace are reportedly eyeing Jamaican attacker Demarai Gray and French-Spanish center-back Aymeric Laporte.
The Transfer Tree
The Transfer Tree traces the biggest transfers down to the lowest levels by looking at why a team makes a move and how the selling club replaces their player. It repeats until either the team becomes too unknown for any information to come through or the team doesn’t buy a player to replace their departure.
Wilfried Zaha departs Crystal Palace after seven-and-a-half years of service for the London side, choosing Galatasaray for their Champions League potential.
As a replacement for Zaha, Palace is looking at Everton winger Demarai Gray. Gray may be out of a position thanks to Everton’s recent signing of Arnaut Danjuma, with both playing as inverted right-wingers. Palace are leading the race for Gray’s signature, but Fulham is not far behind.
Everton decide to target Leeds winger Wilfried Gnonto to replace the void brought by Gray’s potential departure. Although Gnonto primarily plays as a second striker, the right-footed star can play on either wing. With Leeds’ relegation, a transfer looks unavoidable for the Italian.
Gnonto will likely be succeeded by Leeds’ Crysencio Summerville (what a great name), who can play on both the right and left. Summerville started in Leeds’ 2-0 friendly loss to Monaco but did not appear in Leeds’ 2-0 loss to United. The Dutchman is being targeted by Crystal Palace, but at this stage, a transfer is only hypothetical as Summerville continues to train with Leeds.
The Spin
Zaha is a living, breathing legend of Crystal Palace. He was iconic, a staple of the club. If you were to ask any fan of Crystal Palace to name a player currently at the club, the first name would certainly be Zaha. His undying loyalty to the club and the fans made him a favorite of many Londoners. He set up the Zaha Foundation to help kids from the UK and Ivory Coast play football. He gives 10% of his salary to charity. Zaha offered free housing to hospital workers in London at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Not only that, but his style of play is attractive. He dropped and nutmegged defenders as often as he scored. His agility, ability to hug the touchline as well as cut inside, and his precise ball control made him feared among defenders. He is strong in take-ons and carries while drawing fouls several times a game.
But, his choice to spend the youth and prime of his career at Crystal Palace, which frequently scrapped to avoid relegation or suffered through boring stretches of season in the middle of the pack. He had interest from several top-tier teams and could have forced a transfer at any period of his career. However, his loyalty to remain at his academy club shows a level of dedication and allegiance unmatched in football’s modern era.
It’s why instead of a sparse blog post announcing Zaha’s departure, Palace dedicated a dozen or two’s tweets to Zaha, including a Twitter thread of their favorite pictures of Zaha. It’s exactly why his transfer to Galatasaray, a team that has a fair chance of competing in the Champions League, has been celebrated by all corners of the globe (except Fenerbahce fans).
Zaha’s choice to pursue glory in Europe at Galatasaray comes as a minor surprise though. Zaha wanted playing time and European action; wages were not a big deal for him.
Out of the major players in the race for Zaha, Lazio already had exciting wingers in Mattia Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson, and PSG had Neymar, Marco Asensio, and Kylian Mbappe. Napoli (Kvaratskhelia, Lozano, Politano). leaves the two Turkish sides in Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, Al Nassr, and Crystal Palace. Neither Al Nassr nor Crystal Palace would play in Europe, and Fenerbahce had a tougher road to making it to Europe.
Galatasaray was the only logical option for Zaha, and a phone call with ex-Galatasaray player Didier Drogba helped a lot as well. His contract; three years with an annual wage of $4.82 million and a sign-on fee of $2.59 million is nothing like the monstrous contracts he could have accepted at Al Nassr, Crystal Palace, and Qatari side Al-Sadd. However, it still gives Zaha what he wanted; the opportunity to leave his mark on European competition.
Two-time Super Lig-winning manager and Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk often plays in a shape similar to a 4-2-3-1, which involves a back four with high, adventurous wing-backs, a double pivot, two inverted wingers, a free-moving trequartista (attacking midfielder) and a traditional #9.
The loose system, which allowed Buruk’s players to move into different spaces, move away from the rigidity and predictability that plagued Galatasaray teams in the past, and fluidly combine with each other, was a huge part of Galatasaray’s success.
Looking at the team’s attack, Buruk has kept or replaced a lot of his key players. Longtime Galatasaray striker Bafétimbi Gomis, who had 28 goals and 10 assists in 38 total appearances is a free agent, but one of Mauro Icardi or Bakambu could fill his shoes. Nicolò Zaniolo primarily plays as a #10, but split time between the #10 and the right-winger position in his limited time at Galatasaray last season. It isn’t unrealistic to think of Zaniolo and Dries Mertens splitting time as the starting attacking midfielder.
That leaves Zaha on the right wing and Kerem Aktürkoglu, wanted by Tottenham, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, and Lyon, on the left. Aktükoglu often drifts out of possession to take charge of quick counter-attacks and likes to play very fast. It seems likely that Zaha will have the same level of creative control as the 24-year-old.
Aktürkoglu also plays as an inverted winger, using his dominant right foot to cut inside on the left. Although he does have some weaknesses, including his defensive contributions and tactical instinct, Zaha solves those problems with his skills and playstyle.
Crystal Palace has a few key questions to answer in terms of its questionable attack. The team loses Zaha, while Michael Olise seems set to join Chelsea. Jordan Ayew was mediocre last season, to say the least, while Odsonne Edouard played limited minutes behind Ayew. The team’s front three looked something like Zaha-Ayew-Olise, with Olise and Zaha missing extended stretches of the season through injury.
Edouard and even an out-of-position Eberechi Eze proved excellent backups, but there are still mysteries to solve ahead of the upcoming (or, in Palace’s case, impending) 23/24 season.
With Zaha gone and Olise potentially almost out the door, the club needs to line up some replacements. Gray and Augsburg midfielder Rubén Vargas, who primarily plays on the left, and Summerville, who plays on the right, have all been named as targets for the summer. With Palace’s exciting core but perilous transfer situations, there’s as much possibility of landing European football as there is for relegation. Zaha’s departure only complicates things, but there’s still a sense of optimism among fans at Selhurst Park and in London.