Arteta responds to Zaha's Arsenal transfer comments

The Crystal Palace star recently confessed he almost joined Arsenal ahead of Thursday’s visit to the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta rates Wilfried Zaha highly as a player, but the Arsenal manager refused to comment on a potential transfer.

Zaha recently disclosed he held talks with Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery regarding a transfer in 2019. However, Arsenal opted to complete a club-record €80m deal for then-Lille star Nicolas Pepe instead.

Zaha on #Arsenal links in 2019: "I had a conversation with the manager [Emery], actually. He was just like, ‘we dont need to go through much’. He’s seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time. It was like 'yeah, we’d love to have you’. And I was like 'I’d love to come'" pic.twitter.com/K6pT3P0QxL

— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) January 7, 2021

“Well, undoubtedly he’s a player that has done exceptionally well in the Premier League,” Arteta said in response to Zaha’s comments as quoted in the Mirror.

“He has created a big name, because what he’s been able to do, sometimes just on his own, some individual actions that’s what people highlight all the time.

“But he’s a player that’s playing for Palace at the moment, and I have nothing to comment.”

Zaha and Palace will head to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night to meet Arsenal in a Premier League match. A point is all that separates the clubs in the standings, yet the visitors are still three places below in 14th.