Everton have been the subject of numerous transfer rumours linking them with Wilfried Zaha, but Carlo Ancelotti may be better off rejecting the 27-year-old and turning his attentions elsewhere.
Zaha is expected to leave Crystal Palace this summer and is also on the radar of Arsenal, but we should withdraw their interest as the Ivorian international doesn’t provide value for money.
Since re-joining Palace from Manchester United in February 2015, Zaha has gone on to make 200 appearances in all competitions, scoring 37 goals with 39 assists – 1 goal/assist every 2.6 games on average.
His overall record isn’t bad, but the 27-year-old has only managed four goals and five assists in 38 Premier League games this season, so is it worth us paying in excess of £40m and more than £6.77m-a-year/£130k-per-week in wages?
Zaha scored just once in 2020 and hasn’t managed an assist since February, so his form has fallen off a cliff at the worst possible time. He created 36 chances, made 163/267 successful dribbles (61%) and whipped in 68 crosses in 2019/20, but are there better options than the Ivorian winger?
Marcel Brands was the Director of Football at RKC Waalwijk (1998-2005), AZ Alkmaar (2005-2010) and PSV Eindhoven (2010-2018) before joining Everton, so his knowledge of Dutch football should be unparalleled. Surely it makes sense to locate talent from the Netherlands?
Oussama Idrissi was one of many standout players in the Eredivisie last season. For AZ, he scored 13 goals, made three assists, created 46 chances and made 85/125 successful dribbles in 25 Eredivisie games. The 24-year-old is expected to leave AZ this summer and has been linked with Everton.
Steven Berghuis is another top performer in the Netherlands who is on the Toffees’ radar. The 28-year-old scored 15 goals, made seven assists, created 63 chances and made 34/78 successful dribbles in 24 league outings for Feyenoord. The Dutch duo would be more affordable than Zaha too.
Global Sports Salaries estimated in 2018 that the Eredivisie’s average annual salary was £246k – 3.6% of Zaha’s. AZ’s record sale, according to Transfermarkt, is £19.8m (Vincent Janssen to Tottenham in 2016/17) while Feyenoord’s record sale, according to Transfermarkt, is £16.2m (Dirk Kuyt to Liverpool in 2006/07).
Idrissi and Berghuis have posted better numbers in their domestic league than Zaha and would be available for half the price, so we shouldn’t jump headfirst into signing the latter. Weighing up all their options would be smarter.
In other news, Everton have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Odsonne Edouard