Arsenal and Wilfried Zaha: Lucas Vazquez and doing a lot, lot worse

After a failed bid for Wilfried Zaha, Arsenal are reportedly in the running to sign Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez. Zaha may not be perfect, but there is a lot, lot worse out there.

The great discussion regarding Arsenal transfers this summer has centred on the credibility and impact of a blockbuster Wilfried Zaha transfer. The Crystal Palace winger is well liked at the Emirates, has shone in a middling Palace side for several seasons, and would represent quite a coup for the Gunners.

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But there is one major problem: price. Palace presently value Zaha at £80 million. Steep, to say the least. The initial offer made earlier this week came in at £40 million, half of that valuation. This extortionate price has put plenty off from the potential Zaha signing.

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That has led to an inexorable and somewhat exhausting debate among the fan base surrounding the actual value of player like Zaha, someone who possesses tremendous natural ability and superb potential but has only notched double-figure league goals once his career. There are those that vehemently oppose Arsenal’s move for the 26-year-old; then there are others that are amazingly excited about the prospect of him playing at the Emirates with more space to work his magic and less attention from opposing defences.

It is likely, like with almost every controversial opinion with two opposing sides, that the truth lies somewhere in between. Zaha is a better player than his production indicates and he would undoubtedly improve an Arsenal team lacking in the wide positions, but he is not a world-class, £80 million attacker either.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of worse options out there than the Ivorian. And in the latter part of this week, one of those disastrous options surfaced as a potential target. AS in Spain have reported that the Gunners have emerged as a possible landing spot for wantaway Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez.

Vazquez is a 28-year-old winger who has scored a total of 11 La Liga goals over the past four years, during which he has played 122 matches. If you were wondering, that is not very good. In the same span, he totalled 23 assists, also not very good. In fairness, many of these appearances came as a substitute, but by taking his minutes played into account, Vazquez averaged a goal or assist every 170 minutes, all this while playing for the best team in the world.

What is most concerning, however, is that he is slated to cost in the region of £27 million. Not only is he not worth that kind of figure; he is also 28 and represents little to no resale value — there is no way that Arsenal would recoup £30 million by selling him in two years time.

So for all of the Zaha distaste, there are plenty of worse options out there. Yes, the Palace winger is not the perfect prospect, but can Arsenal, in their current state really be expected to sign the perfect prospect? No. And of the players that are feasibly within reach, Zaha might well be the best.