Tottenham considering another summer bid for Wilfried Zaha

It’s a slow day today with regards to Tottenham Hotspur news, so let’s dip our toes back into the murky realm of summer transfer rumors, because that’s a thing we do in February, right? The latest rumor to emerge from the wilds of bat country is that Tottenham are considering going back in for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha when the window opens back up on June 9.

Near as I can tell this rumor first originated in the Times (£), but has appeared in numerous other outlets including the Mirror. The gist of it is that Mauricio Pochettino is still a huge admirer of Zaha, and despite Palace rebuffing Spurs on at least two occasions and Zaha signing a new deal that bumped his wages to £100k/wk and his transfer fee to around £50m, Tottenham want to make him a signature signing.

The Times is a legitimate newspaper and is not a tabloid, so I’m not as keen to completely dismiss this I would normally, but holy hell, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Zaha’s a good player and fits in that speedy-dribbly-winger role that Poch seems so enamored with, but considering Spurs literally just signed a speedy-dribbly-winger guy in Lucas Moura, I can’t see where Zaha would fit in unless Spurs are going to cut bait on one of their existing players.

So because we’re bored, let’s pretend this is real. Spurs already have Lucas, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela, Son Heung-Min, and Moussa Sissoko in their attacking midfield stable. Adding Zaha would create a ridiculous backlog and some stupid competition for minutes, so someone would probably have to make way.

The obvious weak link is Sissoko, but he has the ability to also play as a central midfielder, and that makes him at least moderately useful in the event of injury or suspension. Poch also seems to like him. Erik Lamela may or may not be the player that excelled for Spurs before his year-long injury, but he’s also the only other creative playmaker on the team who can fill in for Christian Eriksen. Dele and Eriksen are untouchable, and I can’t imagine Spurs are clamoring to get rid of Sonny.

Oh, and did I mention that Zaha’s currently out with a knee injury? That too.

In short, even if Spurs want Zaha, it’s difficult to imagine that he has a role in the side right now. Combine that with the exorbitant transfer fee that it would take to pry him away from Palace and his existing wages which are on par with what Harry Kane is making now, and I just don’t really understand this rumor at all. Trading Sissoko for Zaha would be an upgrade (and I’d totally do it) but it still feels like a strange thing to be focusing on. There are bigger areas of concern in the side (i.e. fullbacks) and it seems like that should be the focus this summer, as Spurs continue to try and improve the side.