Arsenal would be the perfect club for Wilfried Zaha, according to his former Crystal Palace team-mate Glenn Murray, who is surprised the Gunners did not sign the winger last year.

Palace boss Roy Hodgson confirmed on Sunday that Zaha wants to leave the Eagles this summer.

Arsenal was linked with the Ivory Coast star last year but instead chose to sign his international team-mate Nicolas Pepe.

Brighton striker Murray believes the time has come for Zaha to move on and says he would expect him to stay in London.

“Palace fans aren’t going to thank me for saying this but yeah, I think he needs to go, I think he needs to flourish,” Murray told talkSPORT.

“I was really surprised that Arsenal didn’t go for him last year and decided to go for Nicolas Pepe.

“I think staying in London would be good for him as well, he’s a real London boy and I just think he would have been the perfect fit [at Arsenal].

“I feel as though he probably would have been a slightly cheaper option and an option that knows the league very well.

“It baffled me why they didn’t go for him.”

Zaha left Palace before to join Manchester United in 2013 but Murray said the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson prevented him from succeeding at Old Trafford.

“When he first joined Manchester United, unfortunately for him he joined at a transitional time in the club’s history,” Murray added.

“Obviously Sir Alex signed him, loaned him back and then at the end of the season Sir Alex unfortunately retired and [David] Moyes took over.

“I think that was really bad timing for Wilfried because I believe if Sir Alex had still been in charge he would have been one of the best players out there now.”

Following Palace’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, Hodgson admitted it was sad Zaha wants to leave.

“It obviously affected him because his form in the last few weeks has really been quite poor considering what he is capable of doing,” Hodgson said.

“It’s a dilemma for the club and a dilemma for him if he is so set on leaving.

“If he feels he just does not want to be with us any more, that would be sad.

“We still like him very much; we can’t make him like us. This is a situation that only he and the club can sort out. I don’t have an answer.”

Question: Do you think Zaha will perform better than Pepe if Arsenal buy him?

Link: https://gistoftheday.com/2020/07/arsenal-move-would-be-perfect-for-wilfried-zaha-ex-teammate-claims/

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