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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Milne

Crystal Palace leave Wilfried Zaha out of away kit launch with star keen to seal Arsenal transfer

Wilfried Zaha was a notable absentee as Crystal Palace stars took part in a photoshoot promoting the south London club's new away kit.

The likes of Christian Benteke and Mamadou Sakho were in attendance and posed while wearing the new-look strip, which sees Palace change from last season's all yellow to a black away jersey.

It remains to be seen whether Zaha will play in the shirt after he announced his desire to leave Selhurst Park and fulfill a life-long ambition to play for Arsenal , the team he supported as a child.

However, it may have been that Zaha only missed the shoot because he was away representing Ivory Coast in the Africa Nations Cup.

He has helped his country towards the quarter-finals in the competition, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Mali in the last-16, and will hope to be amongst the goals again when Ivory Coast face Algeria on Thursday.

Some Arsenal fans, however, seemed to get excited about Zaha's absence from the photoshoot, believing it could be a hint that he is on his way to the Emirates.

One commented on the kit launch on Twitter saying "When Wilf isn't in kit launches" followed by four heart emojis, while another added on the kit "Shame you won't see Zaha in it."

Wilfried Zaha has been linked with a summer move to the Emirates (PA)

Arsenal are desperate to sign the 26-year-old but are likely to be priced out of a transfer, with a first bid of £40m rejected straight away by the Eagles.

The Gunners are known to only have a transfer budget of around £45m this summer, while Palace are demanding £80m for their star player.

They have also been linked with the likes of Saint-Etienne defender William Saliba and Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney, so it appears highly unlikely they will have the funds to tempt Palace into selling Zaha.

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