Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium this summer. Arsenal, however, never actually wanted the Ivorian at the club if the latest report in The Athletic is to be believed. The Gunners submitted a 40million offer for the 26-year-old but it was immediately rejected by the Eagles.
As per the source, Arsenal made a play to sign Zaha to put pressure on Nicolas Pepe. The club began negotiations with the back-than Lille forward in February. The Gunners switched their attention to Zaha for a while to simply force Pepe into joining the North London club faster.
The 24-year-old eventually signed for Arsenal in a record-breaking £72m deal in August. He's scored 1 goal and made 1 assist in 7 Prem games so far.
"It has not been easy, I must tell the truth," the Ivorian told RMC Sport of his start in the English top flight. "My stats have not been good enough or my usual performances, it is not the same as Lille or the Liverpool game earlier in the season.
"My confidence must come back. I am not very worried. People may be worried about my statistics but I am not. I have to keep working as the level here is different, so is the language. It is a new league for me and I must adapt quickly. But it won't take very long."
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