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Why Ian Wright is partly to blame for Arsenal’s failed Wilfried Zaha transfer
ARSENAL have a frosty relationship with Crystal Palace when it comes to transfers - something that dates back nearly 30 years.
Arsenal don’t have ‘relationship’ with Crystal Palace says pundit
That is according to Crystal Palace fan, writer and comedian Kevin Day.
Arsenal have been interested in signing Palace winger Wilfried Zaha in this summer’s transfer window.
The Gunners saw a £40million bid turned down for the 26-year-old at the beginning of July.
But Palace want up to £80m for Zaha and Day claims past transfers involving the clubs have not helped matters.
Dating back to the Ian Wright transfer, we don’t have much of a relationship with Arsenal
He says the deal that saw Ian Wright leave Selhurst Park for Arsenal in 1991 left the relationship strained between Palace and their London rivals.
Arsenal appear to have now moved on from Zaha following the expected arrival of Nicolas Pepe from Lille for £72m.
“It’s been really interesting to find out the relationships clubs have with other clubs,” Day told talkSPORT.
“Arsenal, apparently, dating back to the Ian Wright transfer, we don’t have much of a relationship with Arsenal, and I’m not surprised.
“If they spend the whole summer saying ‘we really want Zaha, he really wants to come’, to the extent as one tabloid said that he will go on strike if he doesn’t go to Arsenal, ‘but we’ve only got £45m, you can have £40m of that, we’ll keep £5m in case a left-back from Celtic comes up’.
“And low and behold, they’ve got £75m to spend on a similar player [Nicolas Pepe].”
Day, meanwhile, thinks Palace fans deserve to know if Zaha will remain at their club this season.
“Steve Parish has gone from a chairman who, two years ago, would probably tell us too much, to now not telling us anything,” he added.
“A friend of mine has just bought four season tickets, one for him, three for his three boys - that’s near enough £2000.
“As he points out, he’s got a right to know if Wilf Zaha is likely to be playing at Palace next season if he’s paying that money, and we all have.
“Whether there’s no information coming from Palace because there’s nothing to sell or because they don’t want to upset the fans.
“Wilf hasn’t said a word.”