Wilfried Zaha agrees shock deal with club nobody expected as Galatasaray nightmare set to end

Wilfried Zaha is on the verge of leaving Galatasaray following talks to return to the Premier League this season.

Zaha departed England last summer on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at Crystal Palace and signed a three-year deal in Turkey.

The Ivorian rejected the offer of a new deal to stay at Selhurst Park but was in talks over a swift return to the Premier League this summer.

Both Palace and recently promoted Leicester had explored a deal to sign Zaha but complications over the tax liabilities he would incur if he returned to the United Kingdom scuppered any potential deal.

With no resolution over his future, Zaha returned to first-team training but his situation now looks to be resolved with an agreement nearing on his departure.

The Athletic's David Ornstein revealed on Thursday evening that Ligue 1 side Lyon were close to finalising a season-long loan deal for the 31-year-old.

A move to France would mean Zaha would avoid the tax complications that ended his chances of returning to the Premier League.

Lyon have started the new season with back-to-back defeats in the league and are owned by Eagle Football Holdings, the largest shareholders in Zaha's ex-club Palace.

Wilfried Zaha is set to leave Galatasaray (Getty)

After making 458 appearances for the club, Zaha left Palace as a club legend following his progression from the academy to the first-team.

Back in July, Zaha explained his decision to leave the club on a free despite having the chance to stay.

"Champions League is top," he told The Unpressables Podcast. "But I just needed something new and the reality is, obviously Premier League is top, top but I just wanted my identity not just to be Crystal Palace.

“You’ve got to understand, I love Crystal Palace so much but I’m more than Crystal Palace.

"I didn’t want my talent to just be seen like one of those things where the people go ‘the streets won’t forget ballers’.

“I’m more than that… ‘he used to just do tricks and nutmegs in the Premier League’… No, I helped the team win games. You can look at stats, If I didn’t play, we weren’t winning.”

Zaha made 43 appearances for Galatasaray last season but only half of those games were starts as he slipped down the pecking order.