Arsenal: Improved Wilfried Zaha must be significant

Arsenal are reportedly preparing an improved offer for Wilfried Zaha. If that is the case, it must be significantly better than their pitiful initial £40 million offer.

Wel, this is going to get very messy indeed. After having a measly £40 million offer rejected earlier this week, Arsenal are expected to return to Crystal Palace with a new and improved bid for star winger Wilfried Zaha.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — The Big Season Review

Sky Sports’ journalist Kaveh Solhekol said a number of interesting things this week. Here is a little summary of his quotes on Sky Sports:

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

"“We know that Arsenal have made a bid of £40m and we know that Crystal Palace are not going to sell him for that kind of money. They are looking for at least double that if they decide to let him go <…> There is every expectation that Arsenal will make that improved bid <…> What I have been told is that this [the reported £45 million transfer budget] is a bit of a smokescreen and Arsenal can go up to £70m to buy Wilfried Zaha. £70m is the point at which they would walk away.”"

The big conclusions to draw are that the Gunners desperately want Zaha and are willing to chase him and that Palace are not going to sell for much less than their £80 million evaluation. The other elements of Solhekol’s report, like Unai Emery using the widely reported £45 million budget as a smokescreen, should be taken with a pinch of salt. What has been known for some time is that Emery wants Zaha, Palace will only sell him for the right price, and there is some serious negotiating to do.

As a result, the improved second offer that is incoming must be substantially better than the £40 million offered earlier this summer. At the very minimum, head of football Raul Sanllehi and chief contract negotiator Huss Fahmy, who are leading the discussions with Palace, must submit an offer worth £50 million-plus.

Palace were ‘incensed’ by the initial £40 million bid, according to David Ornstein, and will have little patience if Arsenal up their offer by a negligible amount. Take their two bids for Kieran Tierney as an example, both of which were rejected by Celtic. The first was £15 million, 60% of Celtic’s £25 million valuation. The second was only £3 million more, an improvement of just 20%. If the second Zaha bid was to be an improvement of 20%, it would be an offer of £48 million. That is still only 60% of Palace’s valuation of the player. Not enough.

Now, that valuation may not be deemed a fair one, but that is the figure that the decision to sell will be based on. The Gunners must at least make Palace think and get somewhere in the region of £60 million, which would be 75% of Palace’s valuation.

At this stage, the only thing they have done is piss off Palace and unsettle Zaha. Perhaps the price will fall as the summer progresses, but more intent and grace must be shown, starting with this second, ‘improved’ offer.