Tottenham have had a surprise £15million bid for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha turned down — but the player has told Alan Pardew he wants to leave Selhurst Park.
The 23-year-old sat down for talks with Palace boss Pardew yesterday and the manager insisted the club do not want to lose him.
But Spurs have identified Zaha as one of their top targets, with manager Mauricio Pochettino keen to add quality and pace to his side.
A deal would be a huge blow to Pardew, who has already lost winger Yannick Bolasie to Everton in a £24.5m deal, while Zaha still has four years left on his Palace contract. The club want to discuss improved terms with the player.
Meanwhile, Erik Lamela’s outrageous nutmeg on former team-mate Andros Townsend during Spurs’ 1-0 win over Palace last Saturday has not gone down well with his boss Pochettino.
The former Argentina defender had sympathy for his former player, and defenders in general, and confessed he would be out to ‘kill’ anyone who did it to him. While not condemning Lamela, he did not share the delight of those fans who have enjoyed the endless reruns of the flash of skill.
‘To be honest I don’t like this type of thing,’ said Pochettino. ‘I understand Lamela’s game and he is always trying things like this in training sessions. But for me, it is important to show respect to the opponent. I don’t like it when you try to humiliate your opponent.
‘Lamela never tries to humiliate opponents, it’s just the way he plays. But for me it is nothing to celebrate. One day, if we win a trophy or the Premier League, it will be a time to celebrate.’
Only a few seconds remained when Lamela collected the ball near the touchline at White Hart Lane, slipped it through Townsend’s legs and collected it on the other side.
On the video clip, Spurs left back Danny Rose can be seen throwing his hands to his head in shock, though he was not surprised to see Townsend caught out.
Rose told Spurs TV: ‘When Andros was here he used to get nutmegged five or six times in a training session without a doubt. I was actually thinking in the game, ‘‘He’s done well not to get nutmegged today’’ and then Erik did that. It was brilliant, sorry Andros.’
Townsend left Spurs for Newcastle in January and moved to Palace this summer. Lamela has a reputation for showcasing his skills, once scoring a ‘Rabona’ goal from the edge of the box for Spurs in a Europa League tie against Asteras Tripolis.
There has been a move to open contract negotiations with the player, whose work-rate and stylish skills have won over so much of the fanbase in recent months.
But Pochettino said: ‘We need to wait. At the moment we are more focused on trying to improve our squad than to improve the contracts for our players.’ – Daily Mail