Crystal Palace are set to complete a £3 million deal to make Manchester United’s Wilried Zaha’s loan move permanent just two years after moving the opposite way to the Red Devils, the Guardian claims.
Wilfried Zaha was a club hero at Crystal Palace at the tender age of 20 years old. Providing pivotal goals and entertaining displays on a weekly basis for the Selhurst Park club, Zaha made his way up the ladder from an academy graduate to a key player in a team fighting for promotion.
His performances caught the eye of England’s and Europe’s biggest clubs and a dream move to Old Trafford came knocking at the door.
Wilfried was signed in the January under then United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and was immediately loaned back to Palace for the remainder of the season, so when Zaha was welcomed to the news that David Moyes would replace Sir Alex in the same summer that he would join; his nose was turned to say the least.
With a distinct lack of game time and frequent rumours suggesting a rift between the Ivory Coast born Zaha and Moyes a loan move to a struggling Cardiff City came to pass.
Palace agreed a loan move for Zaha this summer after Louis Van Gaal expressed his desire to ship him out and now Alan Pardew is said to be desperate to sign the winger permanently.
Pardew is a great admirer of the player whom he tried to sign twice for former club Newcastle. Zaha still has a lot of unlocked potential and will sure to be a starting figure for Palace in their fight for survival.
Man United are ready to make a loss of a massive £9 million to get his name off their books and will no doubt look back on their transfer for Zaha as a waste of money with him being just another ‘wonder kid’ that never quite set the world alight.