Arsenal: Gunners justified in playing Wilfried Zaha ‘waiting game’

Wilfried Zaha has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal. Unai Emery is said to be keen but will play the waiting game to try to get the price down. He is right to do so.

Going into the summer transfer window, it was apparent that Arsenal were going to be monitoring wingers. The Gunners have a severe lack of width. As the season progressed, it became increasingly obvious.

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With the winger position seen by many as the greatest need this summer, there is one name that has surfaced as arguably the number one choice: Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.

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Many players, such as Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser, have also been linked with a switch to north London, however, Zaha would be the perfect fit for what Unai Emery wants in a wide-playing attacker. Unfortunately, the only sticking point that comes up when speaking about Crystal Palace’s gifted Ivorian winger is the ridiculously high price tag.

The South London club are said to want around £80 million for their talisman. Various reports have suggested that Emery is keen on bringing in the pacey winger, but is also reluctant to pay such a high fee, especially given the reportedly low transfer budget that Arsenal have in the window.

Many reports have also stated that the Spanish manager will wait for Crystal Palace to lower the price tag, knowing that Zaha is apparently desperate for a move away. The hope is that the price will decrease as the window transpires. And so, although Zaha would be a fantastic signing for Arsenal, Emery is ostensibly correct in his approach of testing Palace’s metal, seeing just how low they will go in negotiating a move away for the want-away superstar.

Wilfried Zaha is just what the needs, but there is no sense in wasting the entire transfer budget on one player. The 26-year-old rarely shies away from grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck and taking on even the most talented of defenders one-on-one. However, spending the entire transfer budget, or at least the majority of it, on one player, when other positions need some serious reconstruction too would be financially ignorant.

Palace are clearly doing everything in their power to keep the bigger teams away from their superstar player. And understandably so. For Emery, then, waiting and lurking from a distance is exactly what he should be doing in order to get the lowest price possible for the top-level Premier League winger.

If the valuation of Zaha does not decrease, then Emery will most likely have to look for alternative options. At that point, Fraser becomes a very real possibility. He may not be as “exciting ” of a name, but his £25 million price tag makes him far more affordable than his Premier League counterpart.

It is unfortunate that Arsenal will not go out and buy the best players they can possibly attract, but given the position of the club financially, and the lack of ambition from the club’s hierarchy, it is to be expected. Emery will simply have to work within those restrictions. Thus, playing the waiting game makes sense.