There are some footballers who will always be associated with a certain club.
The names Tony Adams or Arsenal, Jamie Carragher of Liverpool and Ledley King of Tottenham spring to mind. One current player who has a similar affinity with his club is Wilfried Zaha. The Ivory Coast international is Crystal Palace's greatest ever Premier League player after keeping the Londoners in the division for eight-and-a-half seasons.
Zaha's association with Palace is so strong that it is easy to forget he once played for Manchester United. It is exactly 10 years to the day that Zaha, now 30, agreed to join the Red Devils from boyhood club Palace at the end of the 2012/13 campaign.
"I am delighted to be joining Manchester United," said Zaha at the time. "However, my focus for the next five months will be solely at Crystal Palace. I have been at Palace for more than 10 years. I will always love the club and I want to help get them back to the Premier League, particularly for the fans who have always been so good to me."
Ferguson added: "We are signing a player of potential. 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."
Zaha did end up firing Palace to promotion that year - famously scoring a brace against bitter rivals Brighton in the play-off semi-final - but was lining up against them when the 2013/14 campaign got underway. Yet his time at Old Trafford did not go to plan.
Do you remember Wilfried Zaha at Manchester United? Let us know in the comments below!
Zaha joined United under the impression that he would be playing under Sir Alex Ferguson, who led United to the Premier League title in 2012/13. Yet in the months that followed their pre-contract agreement, Ferguson decided to retire from management.
It was a tough blow for Zaha to take. "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."
When Zaha eventually arrived at Old Trafford, there was a different manager in charge. David Moyes had succeeded Ferguson and the youngster failed to get a run in the team under the new boss. He played just four games before being sent out on loan to Cardiff.
Zaha did get minutes in the Welsh capital - playing 12 Premier League games - but it was a difficult time, as Cardiff were relegated under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Zaha then returned to Palace, initially on loan, in August 2014 and has stayed there ever since.
Speaking at the Financial Times' Business of Football summit in 2021, Zaha admitted he was a "bit shell-shocked" when he arrived at United and Ferguson was gone. He added: "I didn’t go to the manager’s office and ask why I wasn’t playing, I didn’t have the confidence to do those things. It was just accepting and hoping he’d change his mind."
Zaha believes he was "forgotten about" at United and has called his time there "depressing". Yet in his interview with Ferdinand, he insisted he had no regrets about the transfer. He said: "So many players I’ve managed to learn from, so it’s never regrets.
"I’m sitting in the same changing room as the players I’ve seen win titles after titles after titles - that’s what I want in my career and it’s like I’m finally here with this lot. It’s different when you watch them first-hand."
Zaha's second spell at Selhurst Park has been a roaring success. His talent has helped them survive in the Premier League and reach the FA Cup final in May 2016 - suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to United of all teams.
Zaha is just one appearance away from making his 300th in the Premier League after scoring 67 goals and providing 29 assists in the division. He has won both the Premier League Player of the Month and Goal of the Month awards before at Selhurst Park.
The winger has also been named as Palace's Player of the Year three times and is just one gong away from equalling Julian Speroni's record of four. Most telling is Zaha's record in front of goal - scoring 45 Premier League goals since the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
The latter achievement is perhaps the most impressive, as Zaha has become a proven Premier League star. He is often described as the best top-flight player not representing a "Big Six" club and many critics believe he should be playing in the Champions League.
While that is a complement, it is also a source of frustration. It feels as if Zaha is wasted at Palace and could win a lot of trophies if he completed another big move to a top European club. Yet that could be on the horizon, as he is out of contract in the summer.
Although Ferguson's final signing never did become a superstar at Old Trafford, the Scot was correct when described Zaha as a "player of potential". The Palace legend has enjoyed a brilliant second spell at Selhurst Park - but if he does not join a big club in the summer, there will always be a feeling of what if. Zaha is at the defining crossroads of his career.
