Football transfer news

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has insisted that Wilfried Zaha will be staying at Selhurst Park until the end of the season.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger confirmed on Tuesday that the highly rated England international is among the targets being considered by the north London club, while Goal.com exclusively revealed Manchester United’s interest earlier in November.

However, Parish has confirmed that the Championship side are yet to receive any bids for Zaha and, while the club would look at any offer made, the Eagles currently have no intention of selling their star assest.

“He will definitely be playing at Crystal Palace after January,” Parish told talkSPORT. “Why would we sell him? What would we achieve by selling him?

“We’ve been speaking this week with [Zaha’s] representatives. Right now we’re focused on getting out of this division. 

“Nobody has contacted me from any of the clubs who are supposedly interested in him. We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

“I want all our players straining as hard as they possibly can to get us into the Premier League and for them to achieve all their ambitions with us, so it is not a deal I would particularly favour.

“But, if something was put in front of us and we spoke to the player and he wanted to go we would have to consider it. But right now we’re just focused on keeping the squad together.”

Parish firmly believes that Zaha is destined for a career at the top, and says Palace are currently only focused on winning promotion to the Premier League and will look to hold on to the 20-year-old for as long as possible.

“When deals are put in front of us we will look at them but at the moment our main aim is getting out of this division,” Parish added.

“That’s what we want to do and that’s what we’ve got an academy for. So that we can develop players and local players and punch above our weight if you like. That’s what we’re trying to do and that’s all we’re focused on.

“Wilf will play in the Premier League. We all know that. He will play for a top side in the Premier League.

“I probably won’t be able to develop the club as fast as he will develop his career, but we’d like to think that his first chance in his Premier League playing career could possibly be with us so that’s what we’re going to aim for.”

Andre Santos has hinted at an exit from Arsenal after revealing that a number of Turkish clubs have enquired about his availability.

Santos has struggled to make an impact since joining Arsenal from Fenerbahce in 2011 and recently angered Gunners fans after swapping shirts with former team-mate Robin van Persie during the club’s defeat against Manchester United.

While the defender played down reports linking him with a return to his native Brazil, he confirmed his interest in moving back to Turkey as he still retains the desire to play regular football in Europe.

Santos told Esporte: “My idea is to stay in Europe. I want to keep playing, wherever it might be.

“I still have many objectives on this continent, some clubs from Turkey have called me, but there is nothing concrete.

“If there is any interest from Sao Paulo,  we’ll talk as I’m professional, but there was nothing.”

Meanwhile, Santos believes Arsenal can still win the Premier league, despite currently sitting 10 points behind leaders Manchester United.

He said: “The team are doing very well, we are very confident that we can finish in first place in the Premier League.

“There are 20 rounds to be played, it’s only the beginning, a lot will happen.”

Romelu Lukaku expects to stay on loan with West Brom for the remainder of the season rather than return to parent club Chelsea in January, despite the appointment of Rafael Benitez.

The Blues are short of options up front, with Fernando Torres out of form and Daniel Sturridge currently injured, and are able to activate a clause during the transfer window which would bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge.

But the 19-year-old striker, who has scored four goals in 11 Premier League appearances for West Brom, expects to stay at the Hawthorns until May and – despite currently playing second fiddle behind the Baggies’ leading goalscorer Shane Long – is happy for that to be the case.

“I don’t think about the option,” Lukaku told the Wolverhampton Express and Star. “I am very happy to be here for one year.

“After January, I am sure I will be at West Brom.  I am very happy to know that in my head. Hopefully, I will do well for the rest of the season.

“I don’t think things will change [after Rafael Benitez’s appointment). I think he has his plans and I am happy with the team here.

“If I focus too much on Chelsea it wouldn’t be good for me, so I will focus on being here. In my head, I am here for a year and it has to be clear I am here for a year and not for six months.”

EXCLUSIVE
By James McManus

Former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall has stated his belief that Tottenham winger Gareth Bale would be a perfect fit for Real Madrid, should he decide to move there in the future.

As exclusively revealed by Goal.com, Bale is ready to test himself abroad and tell Tottenham he wants to move to Madrid and Southall believes he would slot in well at the club alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Well if you had Cristiano Ronaldo on the right wing and Bale on the left wing that would be some team for Real Madrid, wouldn’t it?” Southall exclusively told Goal.com.

“Hopefully though he’ll just stay in Britain, and Welsh players tend to stay at home a lot, at your Manchester United’s and Man City’s, that would probably be better [for him].”

On the topic of whether Bale will be able to secure a move to La Liga in the near future, Southall argued that he needs to remain patient for the time being, even if he agreed that eventually a time will come when he will need to seek a move to a bigger club.

“That’s a tough one to answer but I think eventually Gareth will leave Tottenham,” he added.

“How much they need the money and how close they come to winning anything, that might be the only reason Gareth would consider leaving Tottenham, because he wants to start winning things.

“He might actually prefer to stay in Britain, whether that be Manchester United or Manchester City, which is obviously closer to Cardiff than Barcelona and Real Madrid, and we know that he’s a home boy.”

After an indifferent start to the new campaign for Andre Villas-Boas’ side, though, many have questioned whether Bale is good enough to make the step up of playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, but the 52-year-old has no doubt that he is capable of making the grade at either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

He added: “Yes, he’s been playing at that level already and when you play with better players it becomes easier to perform.

“It’s always easier to play with good players than bad players, and I speak from experience, because you don’t know what they’re going to do.

“He’s got that bit of pace that he could add to Barcelona and he’d be quality for them, but it’s just if he wants to go there.”

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EXCLUSIVE
By Romeo Agresti

Fernando Llorente could be on his way out of Athletic Bilbao in the January transfer window as Juventus are ready to make a €7 million offer for the powerful attacker, Goal.com can reveal.

The Serie A champions already attempted to lure the Spain international to Turin in the summer transfer window, but Athletic refused to let go of the 27-year-old earlier this year.

The Bianconeri are hopeful that the Basque side are willing to cash in on Llorente now, though, as the striker remains reluctant to sign a new deal, and could leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Llorente has mainly been warming the bench at San Mames ever since he announced his desire to leave at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, and he is desperate to leave sooner rather than later in order to get his career back on track.

The potential arrival of Llorente at Juventus Stadium effectively means the end of Alessandro Matri or Nicklas Bendtner’s spell with the Old Lady.

Juve are ready to part company with one of the two once they have secured the services of a new striker, and general director Giuseppe Marotta has scheduled meetings with the agents of both players next week to discuss their future at the club.