Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has insisted he would not stop Tottenham Hotspur target Wilfried Zaha from joining one of Europe's biggest clubs for a huge fee in the future but says the winger must improve his end product before that is a possibility.
Tottenham had a £15 million bid for Zaha rejected toward the end of the transfer window last month, leading both Pardew and Eagles chairman Steve Parish to insist the 23-year-old would not be sold, despite Zaha telling Pardew he wanted to join Spurs.
Pardew says Spurs' only chance of signing Zaha was if they "blew us out of the water" and he suggested that the kind of bid to tempt Palace will only come when Zaha is the finished article.
"This club took him back from Man United when things weren't going so well and put their money where their mouth is to bring him back," Pardew told the Croydon Advertiser.
"If Spurs blew us out of the water, or Man City offered £50m and it was Champions League football, OK -- it's because you're the finished product.
"This is what Wilf's ambition should be, but he needs to address his goals and assists.
"If a club came in with, say, £50m-£60m -- let's say a Man City, Barcelona or Real Madrid, and he's got 10 goals and nine assists -- as his manager at Crystal Palace I can't really stand in his way.
"I don't think our fans would either. He knows he isn't there yet and he has no problem seeing that. I have told him that. Potentially, he could be."
Zaha has featured in all four of Palace's matches so far this season, including the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Aug. 20.