Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira claims he sees no reason why Wilfried Zaha would want to leave the club.
The Eagles' talisman has only a few months remaining on his current contract and could leave the club for free this summer.
In his pre-Aston Villa press conference, Vieira discussed Zaha, his "huge respect" for Villa and the need for some of his players to show more on the pitch.
Zaha to stay?
Speculation around Zaha's future has ramped up recently. The Ivorian's contract expires this summer, but Vieira sees no reason why the club's top scorer this season would want to leave.
“I don’t see a reason why not", Vieira said. "The way he plays the game and his passion to win games and the way he cares about the fans and the club.
"[If he leaves] it would be a sad moment for the football club but he would have to respect it. He may want to stay here and take this club to another level and to build something the fans will remember."
Palace will also be happy to see Zaha return after a four-game absence through injury. Vieira was quick to note the quality that he will be bringing back to the side.
“Having Wilfried back is one more weapon. There’s no doubt about his confidence and belief. But again if we want Wilfried to score these goals that we have to create those chances and the team has to play well.
However, Vieira emphasised that the club can't rely on the winger too much and the whole team must provide goals and threat too.
“Zaha doesn’t take the pressure from the other players, he’s just one more strength that we have. Wilfried can score goals from individual quality and talent.
"But the responsibility of the rest of the players around him is massive too. We can’t put all out hopes on one player. There’s a lot of players who can give more to the team."
Questions over Palace's dependency on Zaha have been ever-present over the last few seasons, with few players in the side able to reach similar goal scoring heights. But his manager claims that other sides rely on their star players too.
“I think in any club you have players who are quite important. If you talk about Manchester City, you talk about De Bruyne and how important he is for them.
"Wilfried is important to us as a player. He’s experienced, he can score goals he’s a leader in the group."
When asked about a potential contract renewal, Vieira was predictably coy.
“It’s still a couple of games and a couple of months before thinking about that. The way he’ conducting himself and the way he trains, it’s about helping the team and scoring goals.
“He’s an important player for us but its not just about him. I count on him as much as I count on all the other players."
Villa
Aston Villa have struggled in recent weeks having conceded eleven goals in their last four fixtures. Their fortune has changed lately with a 2-0 win over Everton last weekend.
Despite their defensive mishaps, Vieira does not feel like this fixture will be easy for Palace and praised the Birmingham side.
“I have huge respect for Villa, the manager and the team. It’s difficult to create chances against them because they are really compact and don’t leave much space for the opposition. It will be difficult to score goals.
Vieira also praised Villa manager Unai Emery, citing him as one of the quality managers in the league.
“The experience that he has and the teams that he's managed, he's one of the quality managers in the Premier League and I'm not surprised he’s doing well at Villa.
However, Vieira was conscious that Palace needed a good result against Villa, in what would be their first win of the new year.
“We don’t want to increase the gap between Villa and ourselves. We want to get the result, but we have to perform. My main message to the players this week is about how well we can play to allow us to win the game.
Édouard - 'I hope it hurts him'
Fans have speculated and questioned the frequent starting of Mateta over Odsonne Édouard. The frenchman has scored 3 Premier League goals this season, tripling Mateta's tally.
However, Vieira may have answered those fans' question by providing an update on Édouard:
“I hope he’s getting frustrated [at not starting]. I want more from Édouard.
"I think he can be a really important player for us. I hope that him not starting the last couple of games will hurt him.”
Frustration
Palace have had a frustrating start to the second half of the season. While on paper the results appear good, the lack of attacking threat and cutting edge means they are not getting the most they could be out of matches.
With the south London side just six points away from the bottom three, Vieira emphasised the need to get the most out of his players.
"For myself, it’s about challenging the players to maximise their potential. Over the last couple of games, something I was really pleased with was that we competed against every single team.
“I’ve been reinforcing the qualities that they have. We’re talking about Mateta, Wilfried, Eze, Olise, those players can score goals, there’s no doubt about it.
"It’s about me as a manager creating these scenarios in training for them to work more in front of goal. We’ve been unlucky, like Mateta’s chance against Liverpool. If we score that, the game would be different."
Jean-Philippe Mateta particularly will be looking to add to his goal tally, with just one goal which came in August when Palace last faced Villa.
Nathan Ferguson
Signed by Palace in 2020, former West Bromwich Albion full back Nathan Ferguson has only made one senor appearance for the club. His injury record has stunted his Premier League career, but he is currently fit and building strength by playing in the academy.
Vieira provided an update on Ferguson. He did not want to speculate on when he may appear for the first team but hopes he could before the end of the season.
“That would be good for him and that would be good for the football club. I think its been a long way for Nathan, but he's in a really good place. He played an hour with the under 21s. Next will be for him to play 75 mins
“It’s important for us to rebuild his strength over the next year. He’s got all the attributes that you want in a defender. He’s got the pace, he’s powerful."
Crystal Palace face Aston Villa at Villa park tomorrow at 3pm.