England national team coach Gareth Southgate is wanting to speak to winger Wilfried Zaha in an attempt to change his mind before the Ivorian-born player completes an allegiance switch from England to Cote D’Ivoire.
The Crystal Palace player made the decision to switch international allegiance last week, submitting an application to FIFA in order to represent the Elephants on the international stage.
The 24-year-old winger was born in Abidjan but moved to the UK when he was only 4, growing up in the country and eventually earning two caps for England in 2013.
Both of those appearances came as a substitute in friendly matches and not competitive encounters, which is why he is able to confirm a switch to his country of birth, pending FIFA’s approval.
The former Manchester United player also represented the English Under-21 team on 13 occasions, which is how England coach Southgate knows Zaha well.
The newly appointed coach is keen to speak to the Ivorian in an effort to change his mind and keep him available to represent the English national team.
“We are still first and foremost hopeful that we can speak to Wilf,” Southgate told the Epsom Guardian.
“He’s a player I’ve obviously worked with. At the time, I had him with the Under-21s. I would like to speak to him before we make a decision and happy to make that happen,” the coach added.
“He has played very well this season. I saw him at Everton where he played okay. He played well at Burnley where in the second half I thought he was excellent,” he explained.
“I had a conversation with (Palace manager) Alan Pardew about him that week leading up to that game and I had a conversation with (Palace chairman) Steve Parish about him at half time during that game. He is someone who I said to Alan I am aware of,” Southgate added.
Zaha will need to weigh up his options and decide whether his move to switch allegiance is still what he wants for his international career.
The potential switch comes only months before the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which is set to be held in Gabon this January, and if FIFA approves his request in time, he may join the Elephants in their quest to defend the title they won in 2015.
Cote d’Ivoire have been drawn in Nations Cup Group D alongside Togo, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Elephants begin their title defence with an encounter against Togo on Monday, January 16.
