Allardyce urges Crystal Palace star not to rush future decision

Sam Allardyce has urged Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha not to make any rash decisions over his future. 

The Ivory Coast international has been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park this summer, with Tottenham heavily rumoured as a possible destination for the wideman. 

Spurs have been courting Zaha for the best part of 12 months, but have been routinely thwarted in their attempts to lure the Palace man away from south London for the second time in his career. 

The north London side had a £21m bid for the 24-year-old rejected in August, with Allardyce believing Zaha is worth more than £40m. 

Spurs are set to revive their interest in Zaha at the end of the season, but Allardyce has warned the Palace ace not to rush into any decision and to draw on his own experience after an unhappy spell at Manchester United. 

“I hope it’s not easy to turn Wilf’s head,” Allardyce is quoted as saying by the Guardian. 

“Wilf himself is a mature adult now. He’s seen an awful lot of what happens in football from a very young age, experienced a glory move which didn’t quite work out, and then come back here.  

“While he gets advice from outside the club, I hope he draws on his own experiences and makes his own decisions rather than relying on what others are saying he should do. Of course we would hope he’d stay at Palace for the foreseeable future. 

“As far as I know, Wilf’s contract has a considerable time to run. The summer will bring whatever it brings, whether it’s us negotiating a new contract and him wanting to stay, or some outrageous bid coming along.  

“But he needs to stay here and play every week, and be the key man to Crystal Palace getting better and better. He’s had that since coming back from United. He’s getting closer to the final product. But I’m not in control of [whether he stays].” 

Zaha has six goals and nine assists to his name in the Premier League this season, while he ranks third for dribbles (122) this term, and Allardyce will hope he can maintain his good form when Palace welcome Tottenham to Selhurst Park on Wednesday night.

For more stats on Wilfried Zaha, click here to view his WhoScored player page