Patrick Vieira has seemingly left the door open for Wilfried Zaha to leave Crystal Palace and potentially join Chelsea.
Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Vieira appeared to accept that the attacker might set sail from Selhurst Park very soon.
Zaha is out of contract in the summer, and there is a great sense that he will not renew his allegiance to the Eagles.
Unless Palace can persuade their mercurial number 11 to renew his deal, his abilities will be available to the market as a free agent.
Chelsea are reportedly one of the Premier League sides most interested in obtaining Zaha, although they might face competition from Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea could go after Zaha
Todd Boehly may have to battle off numerous other punters for the Palace forward, as free signings do not come much more sweetly wrapped.
However, Vieira and his employers will surely do everything in their power to persuade Zaha to commit to the project for just a little while longer.
“I think Wilfried knows the position of the club and the decision is going to be his – and when he is ready, we will listen to what he has to say,” said the former Arsenal midfielder.
“But I think everybody knows we want him to stay at our football club, we want to grow with Wilfried as one of our leaders and the decision has to be his.”
Whilst being the main man for Palace certainly has its perks, Zaha should be taking the next step in his career.