Emmanuel Adebayor

Everton legend Neville Southall has said that the Toffees have missed the opportunity to lure Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace this summer. The Ivory Coast international was recently the subject of a £55m bid from the Toffees which was declined, and the Merseyside outfit have since stated that they won’t be coming up with a renewed approach for the attacker.

As a result, Zaha appears set to remain with the south London club beyond the summer and Southall feels the Toffees should have done better to pursue the former Manchester United man, he said: “I don’t think he’ll go to Everton, full stop, but it would have been a good a signing for us. I think coming from Crystal Palace, Everton would be a step up and I do think if you look at what we have coming in the future, Everton would have been a better long-term prospect, but I don’t think the transfer is going to happen.”

Palace are understood to want around £80m for the Ivorian winger and the Toffees are unlikely to come close to that figure. Based on this, it makes sense that the Toffees have deciding against lodging a renewed offer for the 26-year-old and it remains to be seen whether they can recruit a wide player from elsewhere before the transfer window closes on August 8.

Meanwhile, the Toffees have sought to strengthen the centre-forward position ahead of next season and they have recently confirmed the arrival of Moise Kean from Juventus. The Italy international has joined the Toffees with a high reputation after finding success at a short interval with club and country and he could be tasked with the job of leading the line when the Premier League season begins. Marco Silva’s side face Crystal Palace on the road for the curtain-raiser.