Turkish football club Galatasaray signs Wilfried Zaha on three-year deal
Jul 25, 2023
Istanbul [Turkey], July 25 : Turkish football club Galatasaray has signed English striker Wilfried Zaha on a free transfer for three years.
According to Galatasaray's website, Galatasaray have secured Zaha on a three-year deal on a free transfer from Crystal Palace.
Zaha advanced into the Crystal Palace first team from their academy, in 2010. In his first three full seasons at Selhurst Park, he scored 18 goals in all competitions.
In January 2013, he was transferred to Manchester United for an initial fee of 10 million pounds (the most expensive Crystal Palace player sold at the time).
Zaha remained on loan at Palace until the end of the season, helping them return to the Premier League. After an unsuccessful 2013–14 season with Manchester United (mostly spent on loan at Cardiff City), Zaha returned to Palace in August 2014 on a season-long loan, before rejoining the club on a permanent basis in February 2015. He has since become the club's 12th-highest goal scorer.
Born in the Ivory Coast, Zaha grew up in England from age four. He made his debut for the England national team in 2012, appearing in two non-competitive matches (the latter of which came in 2013).
After not playing for England for four years, he switched to play for Ivory Coast ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
When Zaha was in good form for Crystal Palace under Hodgson ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the manager said that he regretted not fielding the winger in a competitive game to tie him to England.
On 27 November 2016, the Ivorian Football Federation confirmed that Zaha had sent correspondence to FIFA to switch his international football allegiance from England to Ivory Coast.
Zaha was also called up for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. He scored two goals at the tournament, one in a 4–1 win over Namibia in the final group game, and the game's only goal in the last 16 match against Mali. The Elephants were defeated on penalties in the quarter-final by the eventual winners, Algeria.
