Tottenham may conclude Lucas Moura is better than Wilfried Zaha

Mauricio Pochettino has wanted to bring Wilfried Zaha to Tottenham for years. It’s possible that Spurs will elect to trust Lucas Moura instead.

In a vacuum, there’s almost no argument to be made that Lucas Moura is a better player than Wilfried Zaha. However, Tottenham don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Given the financial gap between the two players, it’s easy to see Spurs choosing Lucas instead of the Crystal Palace star.

Reports from England claim that Palace are adamant that it will take £70 million to pry Zaha away from Selhurst Park. That’s a significant transfer fee, but it’s not an outrageous ask. Zaha is squarely in his prime at 25 years of age and he almost single-handedly kept the Eagles above the relegation zone last season. He’s an intensely valuable commodity.

Zaha does have his heart set on leaving though. That might ultimately force Palace to drop their price some, but don’t expect it to dip below £50 million. That would represent a significant investment from Spurs.

It’s going to cause Pochettino to ask himself whether or not he already has the answer to his winger problems in his current squad. Lucas struggled to make an impact on the first team after arriving in the winter from PSG last season. If his preseason friendly against Roma is any indication, he’s benefited greatly from a full offseason to get comfortable at Tottenham. He poured in two stylish goals against the Serie A opponent and was widely considered to be the club’s Man of the Match.

The idea that Lucas might be better than Zaha isn’t based on one preseason friendly. He’s shown the ability to play at a high level for a league champion and Champions League participant during his time in France. It’s not as if he’s past his prime either. He and Zaha are the same age. He fell out of favour at PSG, but Tottenham certainly believe they can rehabilitate him. They wouldn’t have spent £25 million on him in January otherwise.

The final question becomes whether or not Zaha at a minimum of £50 million is a significantly better option than playing Lucas on the wing this season. Tottenham fans don’t want to hear it, but it’s entirely possible Spurs are going to conclude that the Brazilian they have is better than the high-priced signing they may have the opportunity to make.

At the very least, expect there to be intense debate over the subject inside the club. This is not a clear cut decision by any means. There are logical arguments to be made in both directions. Time will tell which conclusion Tottenham ultimately select.