Reports today say that Arsenal made a £40 million bid for Wilfried Zaha but not only did the Gunners bid half of Crystal Palace's asking price, they also wanted to do it over five years.
Crystal Palace want around £80 million for their forward Wilfried Zaha, especially after selling Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but according to reports on Tuesday Arsenal have offered him just £40 million.
Not only have Unai Emery's side offered just half of what Palace want but, according to the Evening Standard, the Gunners wanted to pay the fee over five years.
That means that on average the north London side wanted to pay just £8 million a year, with Palace wanting more money and all of it paid by next summer.
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Arsenal's failure to qualify for next season's Champions League, finishing fifth in the league and losing the Europa League final to Chelsea last season, has hindered them in the transfer market.
Emery reportedly only has £40 million to spend on transfers. With player sales that could be boosted but unless it was one of his best players then he'd unlikely to be able to get near the price for Zaha.
The Gunners are hoping that the former Manchester United winger's dream to play for them will hope force a transfer through and they could get him cheaper.
There could yet be a swap involved too with Carl Jenkinson and Shkodran Mustafi both available, with the former potentially replacing Wan-Bissaka.
Palace didn't want to lose both of their top two most valuable players this summer, though they were willing to part with one if their asking price was met.
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United bid early for Wan-Bissaka and finally got the deal confirmed last Saturday, paying £50 million for the right back.
The Red Devils were able to keep in place the sell on clause they have for Zaha, though Palace tried to negotiate to get it removed, meaning they'd still be due money should he be sold.
It's been rumoured that United want to sign Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang from their rivals and that could generate Arsenal around £70 million.
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That might be tempting for Emery but it wouldn't be a good sign once again selling one their best players to a rival, as has happened several times in recent years.
Will Arsenal sign Zaha?
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