EXCLUSIVE: Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha receives HUGE offer worth £9m-a-year from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad… but Eagles hope to convince the winger into staying with lucrative £200k-a-week contract
- Zaha will soon be out of contract and has drawn interest from a range of teams
- Palace have offered the winger their most lucrative deal ever in a bid to keep him
- But for now his sole focus is on finishing the campaign as strongly as he can
Wilfried Zaha is the subject of a £9million a season offer – after tax – from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.
The Crystal Palace forward is out of contract in the summer and is considering his long-term future.
Sportsmail understands Palace have offered Zaha the most lucrative deal in the history of the club believed to be worth – inclusive of bonuses and other payments – close to £200,000-per-week.
However, interest in taking Zaha on a free transfer at the end of the season is building – though the winger is purely focused on finishing the campaign as strongly as he can ahead of making a final decision on his future.
It emerged last week that Al-Nassr – who recently signed Cristiano Ronaldo – were also interested in taking Zaha on a Bosman signing this summer.
Wilfried Zaha is the subject of a £9million a season offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad
The Saudi outfit, who are managed by former Tottenham and Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo (pictured), have tabled a huge offer to sign the winger
But Patrick Vieira (pictured) and Palace are desperate to tie him down to an extension
However, their Saudi rivals Al-Ittihad, who climbed above Al-Nassr at the top of the Pro League this weekend, are trying to gazump the move.
The Al-Ittihad, who are managed by Nuno Espirito Santo, offer is tantamount to earning £320,000-per-week before tax in England.
Palace are not giving up hope that Zaha will eventually decide to sign an extension at Selhurst Park at the end of the season.
But the Ivory Coast star, 30, faces a tough decision over the next phase of his career.
In addition to the interest from Saudi, the forward has also attracted interest from Europe – AC Milan among the clubs monitoring his situation.
Playing in the Champions League is likely to appeal to Zaha but the lucrative wage packages he’d being offered elsewhere won’t be ignored.
Since returning from Manchester United in 2015, Zaha has come close to leaving Palace for English football’s historic top-four.
He was prevented from joining Arsenal in 2019 after Palace rejected numerous offers while Chelsea showed concrete interest in Zaha last summer. Tottenham have also shown interest in Zaha in recent seasons.