Former scout reflects on winger’s disappointing spell at Manchester United

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Crystal Palace scout David Webb believes Wilfried Zaha would have been better off joining Tottenham Hotspur or Southampton rather than Manchester United a decade ago.

Sometimes, players just aren’t the right fit. Sometimes, the price-tag is far too high. But sometimes, circumstances align to ruin a transfer before it even really begins.

Manchester United announced back in January 2013 that they had agreed an initial £10 million deal to bring a 20-year-old Zaha to Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson speaking warmly about the youngster’s vast ‘potential’.

As Webb explains, Ferguson was integral in Zaha’s arrival in the North West. So his sudden retirement, just four months later, was the last thing Zaha needed.

Wilfried Zaha struggled at Manchester United

“It was difficult,” Webb tells talkSPORT (2 May, 11am).

“Obviously, no one could foresee Sir Alex Ferguson going. (Ferguson) was the main architect for bringing him in. Obviously, there was a change with David. That made the transition that little bit harder for Wilf.”

Moyes handed Zaha only two Premier League outings in United red; a then-unproven winger farmed out on loan to Cardiff City and then back to Palace for a mere fraction of the fee the European Champions paid for him in the first place.

In hindsight, Webb believes that Zaha would have been better served joining a club with a track record for developing homegrown talent. Rather than a Manchester United side in transition following a sudden end to the glorious Ferguson era.

“I kept in close contact with the family. I remember having a chat with his dad at the time,” Webb recalls. “If I was to give him some advice, maybe a Tottenham, a Southampton, a ‘progression club’ would have been better for him rather than going to Man United straightaway

“If I had advised him, I’d say a progressive step and then a Chelsea or a Man United after that.”

Now 30 years of age, Zaha’s second spell at Crystal Palace may soon be coming to an end. The Guardian, however, report that Roy Hodgson’s resurgent side are willing to offer the modern-day club legend a staggering £10 million-a-season deal to ward off interest from Chelsea, PSG and Zaha’s boyhood club Arsenal.