Ivory Coast international Wilfried Zaha, on Monday, said he will leave Premier League side Crystal Palace, with Turkish champions Galatasaray revealing they are in talks with the forward.
Zaha, 30, turned down signing a new contract worth a reported £200,000 ($256,000) a week from the London club whom he joined aged 12.
He has scored 90 goals in 458 games for Palace and was sent on loan to the club twice during an unhappy two-year hiatus at Manchester United.
“As I start a new chapter I want to speak to you Palace fans who mean so much to me,” Zaha posted on Instagram.
“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.”
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Zaha — who played twice for England before declaring for the country of his birth, Ivory Coast — said he hoped Palace fans would remember the positives rather than the negatives from his long service.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Zaha joined Manchester United for £10 million in 2013 but he never settled, playing just twice, and aside from the two loan spells with Palace also went on loan to Cardiff.
He re-joined Palace permanently in 2015.
Although he has been linked with Serie A side Lazio, Saudi outfit Al-Nassr and Turkish side Fenerbahce, it is the latter’s great rivals Galatasaray who appear to have edged ahead in the race to sign him.
Galatasaray confirmed in a tweet “formal negotiations have been initiated” with the player.
AFP
