[ad_pod ]

For the past few years, the primary concern at Crystal Palace during the transfer windows has been to retain Wilfried Zaha’s services for another season.

Clubs have come calling and the Selhurst Park outfit have knocked them back time and time again, but a long-term contract signed in August 2018 will surely ensure that the Ivorian remains at the club for the remainder of his career unless a European giant is willing to table an extraordinary bid.

While Steve Parish and co can perhaps rest on their laurels in that case, there is another top talent on their books who they will be equally concerned about losing in the summer. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been a revelation for the Croydon outfit since breaking through to the first team in February last year and has been linked with a number of top clubs including Arsenal and Manchester United.

For Palace fans, losing the combative right-back would be a disaster but what if a bid comes that the club simply cannot refuse? Football Fancast look at the potential consequences of Palace selling the talented youngster…

Zaha is definitely going nowhere

Palace are in no urgency to cash in on either of their prized assets but, should they accept a mouth-watering fee for Wan-Bissaka, then they will unlikely entertain the idea of selling Zaha – even if the fee would surpass Premier League records.

Losing one would be bad enough but losing both would be catastrophic and there would undoubtedly be outrage from the Selhurst Park faithful. Borussia Dortmund have made their interest in the electric winger clear and, having sold Christian Pulisic to Chelsea, they could come knocking in the summer as they look to reinforce their attack.

If Wan-Bissaka has already gone, though, then they will probably have the door slammed straight in their faces.

Club finally ends years of relegation battles

While the 20-year-old has shored up the Palace defence beyond belief, the potential fees being mentioned are pretty big and one has to imagine what that money could do to the team on the premise that it is put straight into Roy Hodgson’s budget.

Michy Batshuayi appears to have temporarily solved the Eagles’ striker deficiency although he will be returning to Chelsea in the summer as it stands. If Palace have £30m or £40m to splash on a top hitman then they would surely be able to challenge for the top ten on a more consistent basis rather than the constant cycle of disappointing relegation battles.

They have, of course, attempted to do so before but Christian Benteke is a confidence-void shell of the striker he was in the 2015/16 season when he scored 17 goals after making the switch from Liverpool.

The reality is that, with the quality they’ve got in all areas of the pitch, Palace shouldn’t be looking over their shoulder every campaign. But perhaps they need one final big-spending summer to take them to the next level.

Obviously signing a top quality right-back would help, too – Joel Ward might be decent at diving headers but he is streets away from Wan-Bissaka – while another winger to take the creative burden off of Zaha and Andros Townsend would be nice as well.

More youngsters through the academy

Wan-Bissaka is the only Palace star to come through the academy and shine since Zaha and considering the number 29 only got his chance through injuries and could therefore easily still be languishing in the Under-23’s, have Palace got any more on their books?

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Nya Kirby, for instance, has impressed on loan at Blackpool and has looked worthy of a shot in the first team for a little while now. More faith needs to be shown in the youngsters, particularly if Palace are to continue their frugal ways of recent windows, as sometimes it is clear that some fresh impetus is needed at Selhurst Park.

Perhaps the big cheeses at Palace will start combing the academy for more starlets if they are accept big bucks for Wan-Bissaka in the summer. Could the 20-year-old, in fact, be the first of many in the coming years to blow Selhurst Park away?