West Ham ‘would not be a step up’ for Wilfried Zaha, but Tottenham switch would be ‘quite exciting’
Moving to West Ham would not be a ‘step up’ for Wilfried Zaha, who would be better joining Tottenham.
The forward is facing an uncertain future with his Crystal Palace contract officially expiring at midnight on Friday night.
As a result, the 30-yar-old is searching for a new club ahead of the new season.
While a move to Saudi Arabia had been tipped as a possibility, it remains to be seen where Zaha will end up next term with Darren Bent assessing the options that could be on the table for the Ivory Coast international.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Bent said: “He’s been a fantastic servant, but there’s only a handful of clubs that I think he could go to.
“I’ve got Aston Villa, I’ve gone Chelsea but they’ve Nkunku on that left-hand side so maybe they don’t need anyone, but I’ve put them on the list.
“I’ve got Newcastle and I’ve got Spurs, they’re the teams in the Premier League.
“I did put West Ham on there because they’re in Europe but will Wilfried Zaha want to leave Crystal Palace to go to West Ham?
“I know they won the Conference League last year and just about survived in the Premier League – would he see that as a step up, a step back or as a fresh challenge?
“I look elsewhere, I think that the time for Arsenal has passed, Manchester City no, Manchester United have Marcus Rashford.”
Asked about a potential move toTOTTENHAM, Bent said: “If you look at last season, how many of them performed? Only Kane.
“Son was way off it, Kulusevski didn’t really play and Richarlison got opportunities but didn’t take them.
“I think Spurs would be quite exciting – I know that Postecoglou would have to work out which his best three is, but if you’ve got Zaha on a free and James Maddison for £40million, I think they’re two good players. I think it makes Spurs stronger.”
READ MORE BELOW
Our opening fixture against Sheffield United might still be some 42 days away – but for a number of Crystal Palace players, the 2023/24 season has already begun in earnest.
A carefully curated programme of preparatory training, pre-season fixtures and a high-profile tour to Chicago and Detroit will all take place between now and that opening-day trip to Bramall Lane.
But after a well-earned month’s break, the first real test of the new campaign has already arrived for a number of the Eagles: pre-season screening day, which took place on Friday.
Arriving in small groups, Palace players who were not involved in international duty earlier this month returned to the training ground to undergo a range of important tests.
These tests are designed to provide benchmarks of players’ fitness at this moment in time and can often inform the basis for assessments made later in the season, such as players’ rehabilitation schedules.
Once the results are received, Palace’s medical department – Sports Science, Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine chief amongst them – can then devise individual programmes for each specific player.
But what exactly does this range of tests comprise? Well, in the words of our assessors themselves…
HEART SCREENING
Professor Sanjay Sharma, Professor of Cardiology: “When a team purchases a player, or someone’s playing football every week, the big worry tends to be: are they going to have the joints to last the whole season?
“But of course, every now and then, you get a case like that of Christian Eriksen [who suffered a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020] and although they are very uncommon, when they do happen, they cause fear amongst the community.
“We basically check the footballers for cardiac faults to make sure they’ve got nothing going on in their heart, or haven’t developed anything that could trigger a sudden arrest.
“Most Premier League football players have this either once yearly, or once every two years. If you’re playing in the European competitions, you’ve got to have it every year.”
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