COMMENT: His contract is running down. He's a fan. And they're shopping for his type of player. If ever Wilfried Zaha is to get his dream move to Arsenal it will be in 2023..

They want that type of player, do the Gunners. Jesper Lindstrom. Mykhaylo Mudryk. Edu, Arsenal's dealmaker, is seeking a free-scoring, versatile winger. One who can also play centrally. Can beat a tackle. Can cross. Create. But also score. Like Zaha, Mudryk does that for Shakhtar Donetsk. As does the young Dane, Lindstrom, for Eintracht Frankfurt. But the difference is, the latter two are at the beginning of their careers. Zaha, on the other hand, has entered his prime. And he does so just as his contract at Crystal Palace winds down.

So there's a deal to be made. We know Edu is shopping for his type. Just as we know the Brazilian likes the player. It wasn't Edu who pulled the rug from under Zaha and Unai Emery, the former manager at Arsenal, three years ago. That was Raul Sanllehi. The Spaniard, after not only allowing Emery to talk directly with the Palace ace, but basically assure him of a deal being closed, choosing instead to ferry Nicolas Pepe away from Lille. And at double the price Palace were seeking.

"I had a conversation with the manager, actually," Zaha has stated. "He was just like, 'we don't need to go through much'. He's seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time and stuff like that. It was like, 'yeah, we'd love to have you'.

"The conversation was rather straightforward because I've played against him when he's managed Arsenal, he's seen what I can do, he's seen my work rate, what I can add to the team.

"Obviously, it was up to the club who they chose, and obviously they chose Pepe over me."

But that was then. The personalities involved in that cock-up are now long gone from Arsenal. Indeed, the culture and atmosphere around the club has been transformed too. Top of the table. Into the knockout phase of the Europa League. And with Champions League qualification on the horizon. The Gunners are now much, much more than a team in the phase of a rebuild. They're maturing into genuine, consistent challengers. Which is why a move for Zaha - at 29 - over the likes of Mudryk and Lindstrom should be favoured.

For this column, doubts over game time for Zaha. Over his consistency. They should be dismissed. The Ivory Coast international would arrive, similar to Gabriel Jesus, as a first-choice starter. Not the maverick, erratic talent he's been categorised as. At Palace, Zaha is a leader - both on and off the pitch. A driver of his team. An inspiration. As talented as some of the young players around him are, at Palace it's essentially Zaha plus ten more. Year after year, season after season, you don't carry a club like that unless you're producing consistent, matchwinning performances.

And that's as a Palace player. With better quality around him, who knows where Mikel Arteta, the Gunners manager, can take Zaha's game? Just consider the way Zaha has thrived working for - if not alongside in what is clearly a genuine partnership - Patrick Vieira. The freedom and responsibility handed to the player something he has readily embraced. Before Vieira, at the opposite end of the spectrum, there was Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and even Neil Warnock. Yet Zaha, even working to their rigid demands, remained Palace's key man. He adapted. He adjusted. And still found a way to play - and entertain - at a consistently high level. That isn't the stuff of an erratic, hit-or-miss maverick. There's far, far more to Zaha than such a label.

So a second conversation with a second Arsenal manager would make sense. And for the moment, things are moving in that direction. With his contract running down, the latest is Zaha has put off all negotiations. Palace are pushing. Indeed, there has been talk of a new proposal being verbally offered over the summer. But for now, everything is on hold as his representatives test the water.

And the response - unsurprisingly - has been positive. Arsenal aren't alone. Especially in London. As a free agent, Zaha could have his choice of destinations. Tottenham, Chelsea are also being mentioned. Further north, there's Newcastle United's new owners. Liverpool is another, given Zaha's Bosman status, to express initial interest. And if he wants to cash in, Tribalfootball.com has been informed by one intermediary of interest from the UAE and Qatar's Stars League. If he does end up at boyhood idols Arsenal, it won't be for the money.

Of course, this is all assuming he's made up his mind. Obviously, suspending talks with Palace does suggest a decision has been made. But leaving Selhurst Park. Leaving home. Does he stay and help Vieira to bring on this exciting, new team they're developing? Or does he give up all that status for the chance at Champions League football and title challenges?

It's a career defining moment looming for Zaha. A legacy defining moment. But if he is ever to get that dream move to Arsenal, it will have to be in 2023.