Crystal Palace were willing to part with Wilfried Zaha but did not receive an appropriate offer from a big enough club, according to Roy Hodgson.
Ivory Coast winger Zaha was heavily linked with Arsenal - the club he had supported as a child - during the close season before Everton launched an audacious bid late in the transfer window.
However, only a £40 million (€44.7m/$49.3m) bid was forthcoming, some way short of the £80 million (€89.4m/$98.6m) price-tag set by Palace for their star forward.
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The Toffees reportedly offered around £70 million (€78.