Wilfried Zaha could make his England debut against Sweden on Wednesday and it is unlikely the Crystal Palace youngster will shy away from the challenge given he claims “unless I’m looking at Ronaldo or Messi, I’d never look at someone else and think he’s better than me.” Zaha is one of the hottest properties in England and is learning his trade in
the Championship with Palace. A string of dazzling efforts for the Eagles have earned him an England call-up for the friendly with Sweden.
There is still a chance he could still commit to Ivory Coast, he describes it as “50/50”, but on his own career it would appear as if Zaha feels he has the world at his feet.
“Unless I’m looking at (Cristiano) Ronaldo or (Lionel) Messi, I’d never look at someone else and think he’s better than me,” Zaha told the Daily Mail.
Arsenal are being linked with a January bid for Zaha and the forward is already thinking about life in the Premier League.
“I think about the Premier League all the time, wondering when I’m going to come up against better defenders,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve come up against a defender when I’ve thought ‘What can I do to get past this guy?’
“If it was Ashley Cole I would be working it all out before the game, knowing he would stick tight to me. I’d drift inside and then run at him. Maybe he’ll be able to deal with it, but that’s when I can test him, isn’t it? That’s my time.”
Palace have slapped a £20m price tag on Zaha’s head but it is not something that will weigh him down.
He said: “I see people criticising, when they are thinking like, ‘£20m? My a**e’, but I never put a price tag on my head.
“I remember when people were saying Palace should sell me for £1m because I wouldn’t do anything in the game – that was hard.
“The Premier League is where I want to go but I’m not saying I want to leave Palace right now.”
