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Palace 'would love' Zaha back from United

Crystal Palace would 'love' to have Wilfried Zaha back at the club. © PA Photos

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Crystal Palace officials would 'love' to have former star Wilfried Zaha back on loan next season but concede that any deal is in the hands of Zaha's new club, Manchester United.

Zaha has already completed one loan deal with his former club, helping the Eagles back into the Premier League, after signing for the Red Devils in January. But Palace chief executive Phil Alexander hoped the 20-year-old could be a future option for the club.

"It's another option, clearly that's up to Manchester United. He's their player now. Will we be asking? We'll probably ask in passing but it's really down to them," he explained to Sky Sports News.

"Would we love to see Wilfried back? Of course we would but he's got a career at Manchester United and, after a few training sessions up there, I'm not sure they'll be willing to let him out on loan."

However, should the Eagles miss out on the England international, Alexander is confident the current squad can keep the club in the Premier League. But he did not rule out the club from signing a number of new players.

"We're really fortunate - we're coming up with a real good squad," he said. "Most of our squad from last year is signed up, they're obviously used to playing with each other, they've got great team spirit and we will be adding to the squad.

"There's a number of names on the list but we've already got the basis of the squad already there. It's difficult to say in terms of numbers - we have got some key areas.

"We did have an injury to Glenn Murray at the back end of last season and he was our top goalscorer so it's pretty clear that we need a centre-forward and probably two or three more to add to the squad.

"We're in no major rush, we've got some good targets, Ian's done a lot of homework in terms of what players are available and we're now talking to various agents, talking to other clubs and going through that process.

"We've got a budget in mind, it would be daft to give out numbers but we've worked out the budget.

"We've looked at the income streams and we'll manage the club the best we can, going forward without taking any risks."

And one player that the club are looking to sign is play-off final hero, Kevin Phillips.

"Ian's [Holloway] keen to keep him, there's discussions to be had with Kevin," Alexander said. "Even at 40, I still think he could do a job in the Premier League from being part of the team. He's a great guy to have around.

"Could he come on and do a job in the last five, 10, 15 minutes of a game? I'm sure he could.

"Those discussions will be had and I'll be hopeful that he'll sign a contract with us."

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