Roy Hodgson confirms Zaha will stay at Palace

Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Wilfried Zaha will not be leaving Crystal Palace this month after no clubs matched their valuation of the Ivory Coast forward.

Zaha was the subject of failed bids from Arsenal earlier in the transfer window before Palace rejected two bids from Everton for the 26-year-old. But despite handing in a transfer request on Wednesday in attempt to force through a move to Merseyside, Hodgson confirmed that Zaha will stay at Selhurst Park.

“Yes he’s staying,” the Palace manager told Sky Sports. “We’re pleased about that because he is an important player for the club and we are looking forward to him doing this season, what he’s done for the last two seasons.

Asked whether he had any worries about integrating the forward back into the team, Hodgson added: “Everyone here has a good relationship with him. There’s not a problem with that. His beef is with the chairman and owners of the club because he’s wanted to leave and they haven’t received the offer that they think is sufficient to allow him to leave. He has to come to terms with that, when you sign long-term contracts you are expected to honour them and we expect him to do that.

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“I don’t have any issues with him. Today wasn’t the right day so I’m looking forward to seeing him tomorrow and hopefully he’ll have come to terms with the fact he’s got another season with Crystal Palace.

“Today he wasn’t really in the right frame of mind so I sent him home today which is understandable. Last day, transfer window. Its been well documented that he’s wanted to leave but it has not worked out for him in that respect. He’s a professional and got a good contract with us. He’s very much a player we respect and I believe he respects us. We expect him to come back and do what he does and we’re looking forward to a season with him again.”