Palace chairman Steve Parish revealed last month that the club had rejected a 12 million pounds bid from Tottenham Hotspur for Zaha, who struck once and provided an assist for Christian Benteke's goal in Saturday's 2-1 win at Middlesbrough.
"Of course I sat down and spoke to him. I want someone to blow the doors off if they're going to come for him, not have him go somewhere as a squad player at 16-17 million pounds," Pardew told British media.
"When you see someone put 50 million pounds that's when you think about it. That assist for the first goal — I can't ask for more."
Pardew said the 23-year-old's response has been encouraging despite speculation over his future at the club.
"Trust me, I've been in the position when you can't get anything out of a player. Us Premier League managers pull our hair out. That's not been the case with Wilf," Pardew added.
"If I was to mark him out of ten I would give him a ten, that's how good his attitude's been."
Palace, who are 11th in the league standings with four points, host Stoke City on Sunday.
(Reporting by Ian Rodricks in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
