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Premier League rivals Tottenham and Everton are reportedly in a straight fight to sign Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha this summer.

The 28-year-old came close to quitting Palace during last summer’s transfer window, and he remains keen on an exit. Zaha wants to move to a club with the capacity to challenge for honours, having been part of an Eagles side that has continually finished in the bottom half of the table.

Zaha’s boyhood club Arsenal were keen on bringing him to The Emirates last year. However, Goal states that Spurs and Everton are now the frontrunners for his signature.

The Toffees made two formal offers to sign the Ivory Coast international back in 2019. But that was back when Palace were demanding £80m for their talisman.

That valuation has now dropped to half that amount, with the report stating that the Eagles are willing to accept £40m. That is mainly down to the fact that Zaha has just two years remaining on his contract.

As for Spurs, they could have the riches from the potential sale of Harry Kane to spend. Zaha has been a target for the north London side for a number of years.

The only potential question mark regarding Tottenham is that Zaha does his best work from the left of a front three. That is also the position where Son Heung-Min has thrived since his arrival.

But whoever lands Zaha this summer will be getting a player coming off a fine season. The attacker enjoyed his best goalscoring campaign in the Premier League for Palace, netting 11 times in 30 appearances.

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Southgate hints at timing of Kane move

Meanwhile, England boss Gareth Southgate does not expect any possible transfer of Tottenham striker Harry Kane to happen during the European Championship.

Kane is reported to have told Spurs he wants to leave this summer and was keen for his future to be sorted before the tournament begins in a couple of weeks. That always looked unlikely, not least because Tottenham will not let their star man, who is under contract for another three years, go without a fight, but also because of the short timeframe.

The timing of the leak from Kane’s camp over his desire to leave his boyhood club was surprising given it will almost certainly drag on over the summer and possibly provide a distraction to the Three Lions’ campaign.

Southgate has no question marks over Kane’s focus for the tournament, but does not think any possible transfer will happen until it has finished.

The England boss said: “I don’t feel I need to talk to Harry Kane regarding focus or professionalism. He has one goal with us and that’s to win the European Championship.

“He knows how important that is at this moment in time. What’s happening at his club is a matter for him and Tottenham. He’s made some statements in the last few days, but that is out of the way now.

“It’s very unlikely that transfer deals will be done while we are away. It’s different when we meet up in September and I’m very realistic that you can’t stop phones ringing, but most deals will be done at the end of the tournament or in the first week before it starts.

“I would expect most deals in terms of our players to be done after the tournament.”

READ MORE: Berbatov warns Kane he might become Tottenham’s Matt Le Tissier

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