Sat. Jul 6th, 2024
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Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha reached a deal for a joint takeover of non-league side Croydon Athletic earlier this summer

Turkish champions Galatasaray are in talks to sign former Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha.

The Ivory Coast forward, 30, is a free agent after the expiry of his contract with Palace at the end of last month.

Palace had reportedly offered Zaha £200,000 a week to stay at the club where he spent most of his career.

But a tweet by Galatasaray, who will be in the Champions League this season, confirmed “formal negotiations have been initiated” with the player.

Zaha later confirmed in an Instagram postexternal-link that he would not be returning to Palace.

“As I start a new chapter I want to speak to you Palace fans who mean so much to me,” he wrote.

“We have been through so much together, including 10 years in the Prem [Premier League]. There are loads of amazing memories that will stay in my head forever and also some really tough times along the way, but I’m so proud to have played my part in getting us to the Prem and helping to keep us there.

“I’ve been wearing the Palace shirt since I was eight-years-old, it’s literally been my second skin and I always gave everything when I wore it.

“You have all seen me angry and frustrated, but you’ve also seen my hunger and passion and the joy that I take from winning, and I hope that is the memory that lives on in the minds of Palace fans.”

He has also been linked to Italian club Lazio, the Saudi league’s Al-Nassr and another Turkish team in Fenerbahce.

Zaha, who played twice for England before declaring for the Ivory Coast, scored 90 goals in 458 games for Palace, having joined the club as a 12-year-old.

He joined Manchester United in 2013 but had two loan spells with Palace either side of a stint with Cardiff, before re-joining the Eagles permanently in 2015.



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