The Red Devils have been told they could do worse than trying to re-sign a former talent of theirs in Wilfried Zaha this summer once his Crystal Palace contract expires
Manchester United have been encouraged to re-sign Wilfried Zaha a decade on from when he first signed for the Red Devils under the reign of club icon Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Ivorian international originally made his way up the ranks at Crystal Palace, emerging as one of the most exciting talents plying their trade in English football before Ferguson opted to make Zaha his final signing as United boss. The wide-forward never actually played under the Scot, remaining at Palace for the final few months of Ferguson’s time in charge before joining at the end of that season.
Zaha’s brief spell as a United player came while David Moyes was at the helm, but the pair failed to see eye to eye and the winger made just four appearances under Moyes before joining Cardiff City on loan.
It was a drastic decline that few saw coming due to Zaha’s remarkable ability, with Ferguson himself talking up the winger before his arrival.
“We are signing a player of potential,” the United icon explained. “We always feel we develop players well. We have proved that many times. We hope the boy enjoys coming here, when he comes in the summer.”
Yet, in the months between Zaha penning a pre-contract agreement at Old Trafford and his eventual arrival six months later, Ferguson called time on his glorious 26-year reign in the hot-seat and retired from management.
“It crushed me a little bit because it was like, after speaking to him, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to go there,” Zaha told his former United team-mate Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel. “I had no idea he was leaving.”
Things didn’t work out for Zaha once Moyes took over, but he managed to recover and enjoy a stellar career in the top flight following his return to Palace. So much so, that another former United talent in Danny Simpson has admitted he’d be keen on seeing the Ivory Coast international back at Old Trafford for round two.
“I would bring him back here,” Simpson told Stadium Astro. “If you’re looking at Marcus Rashford as the No. 9 and Wilfried on the left, that is some firepower. It was Sir Alex Ferguson who signed him then he left. Moyes obviously came in and it didn’t work out.
“I do genuinely believe if Sir Alex was the manager when he signed we would have seen a different Wilfried Zaha at Manchester United.”
Zaha’s current deal at Selhurst Park has just six months left to run before he is free to leave and venture elsewhere without bringing in Palace any kind of transfer fee.
While his age could play a factor in whether a big-six club comes in for him or not, 30-year-old Zaha boasts the kind of talent that could prove too tempting for one of the Premier League’s big-hitters to turn down, especially for free.
