By John Cross
Sir Alex Ferguson will go head-to-head with Arsene Wenger in the battle for Crystal Palace wonderkid Wilfried Zaha.
Arsenal and Manchester United are both set to make approaches for Zaha in January – and the England international will have his pick of the two clubs.
United boss Ferguson is keen to add extra pace to his squad and has also made an enquiry for Arsenal’s Theo Walcott.
Gunners manager Wenger will bid for 20-year-old Zaha in January as well but both clubs may end up having to wait until the summer unless Palace change their stance.
Palace boss Ian Holloway insists he will not sell Zaha in January but realistically it will be hard to keep him in the long term.
But Arsenal and United will be keen to get a deal done because they know competition is fierce.
Arsenal were confident of landing their man but United’s interest throws a spanner in the works and the battle is on.
Wenger is keen to keep Walcott, has offered him a new contract to fend off United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool.
But there will be room in the Arsenal squad as they look to offload Andrey Arshavin in January before his contract expires next summer.
Wenger’s other target is a top keeper with Liverpool’s Pepe Reia his No1 target as revealed in Mirror Sport while there is cash to spend on the midfield and strike force.
