Roy Hodgson has told clubs thinking about bidding for Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha not to bother, with only days left before the international transfer window closes.
The 27-year-old has been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park during the last two seasons, but has started the new Premier League campaign strongly with goals in wins over Southampton and Manchester United.
Zaha will line up again for the Eagles on Saturday at Chelsea and any talk it may be his last game for the club is wide of the mark.
With the transfer window due to shut at 11pm on Monday, the Palace boss has made clear the new stance on the Ivory Coast international.
Hodgson said: “Well I have been told and I think Wilf has had it made clear to him that we are not interested in late bids.
“If it was going to happen, it would need to happen in a time frame which would give us a chance to see what we would want to do with the money.
“So close to the end of the transfer window, I would certainly hope it will not happen now and I want to continue working with him.”
Palace make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Frank Lampard’s side, who have only four points after three league games and were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday following a penalty shoot-out defeat at Tottenham.
The south London outfit have already raided one of Chelsea’s neighbours this summer, QPR, to sign playmaker Ebere Eze and speculation continues over whether another player plying his trade nearby could move to SE25.
Brentford’s Said Benrahma has been linked with several Premier League clubs since the Sky Bet Championship play-off final defeat to Fulham at Wembley in August.
A midweek brace from the Algerian in the Carabao Cup added a few million to his price tag according to Bees manager Thomas Frank, but Palace are not expected to be involved in a deadline-day battle for his signature.
“The bottom line is, as far as I am concerned, there is no real dialogue between us and Brentford and we certainly haven’t discussed buying a player for that position, but who knows,” Hodgson added.
“I don’t know what Brentford are thinking and it would be unusual and stupid of me when his name comes up to say he is not a good player.
“But we have players in that position. We actually signed Eze to strengthen us in that area and we have Jeffrey Schlupp, Andros Townsend and Max Meyer so we are certainly not short of players in the positions Said Benrahma plays.”
While Palace are not expected to be busy in the transfer window during the final few days, free agent Nathaniel Clyne could return to Selhurst Park.
The defender has trained with the Eagles since last month and with young full-back Nathan Ferguson still out with a knee injury, there is a space for him to join the group.
“We believe and hope he is getting back to his best,” Hodgson said of Clyne, who started his career at Palace.
“In the coming days we will reassess because it is a position where we are not covered at the moment because the young lad we brought in to play in that position is still struggling with a knee injury.
“There is an opportunity I think for someone like Nathaniel to come into the club if that is what everyone at the club wants and thinks is the right thing to do. Certainly I have been impressed.”
