Galatasaray confirm the free signing of Wilfried Zaha on a three-year deal as the Crystal Palace legend makes the move to Turkish football after spending all but one year of his career at Selhurst Park
- Galatasaray have confirmed the signing of Wilfried Zaha on a three-year deal
- It comes after the winger’s Crystal Palace contract expired earlier this month
- He will have the opportunity to play Champions League football for the club
Galatasaray have confirmed the siging of Wilfried Zaha on a free transfer.
The 30-year-old winger was a free agent after his Crystal Palace contract expired earlier this summer, and has now joined the Turkish giants on a thee-year deal.
Mail Sport first reported they were interested in the Ivory Coast international on Saturday, with the club confirming they were in talks a day later.
The move was announced with a video on Twitter that featured Sky Sports’ Jo Wilson and Zaha saying he had ‘never seen so man cups’ in the trophy room.
He had been the subject of interest and enquiries from clubs in Saudi Arabia, Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Lazio and Galatasaray’s rivals Fenerbahce.
Turkish champions Galatasaray have announced the signing of Wilfried Zaha
But in the same way Galatasaray beat Fenerbahce to last season’s Turkish title, they have now pipped them to Zaha’s signature.
By winning the title Galatasaray secured entry to the Champions League qualifying round, a competition Zaha wants to test himself in and factor that significantly increases their appeal.
As well as the interest from overseas, Zaha also had a renewal offer from Crystal Palace worth £200,000-per-week.
But that remained unsigned allowing him to keep his options open over his future.
He had continued to train at his hometown club as he recovered from the hamstring injury that brought a premature end to his 22/23 season.
His move to Turkey comes after a fruitful nine-year spell at Palace that saw him score 72 goals in 315 games for the club, as they stayed in the Premier League throughout.
He also begun his career at Selhurst Park, meaning the majority of his career has been spent in South London barring brief spells at Cardiff and Manchester United.
The winger had spent all but one season of his career at Crystal Palace before the move
He continued to train with the club after the end of his contract as he recovered from injury