Last season was far from a vintage year for Manchester United.
Before David Moyes sent the then reigning champions into a spectacular nosedive, much was expected of Sir Alex Ferguson’s final signing, Wilfried Zaha.
Arriving from Crystal Palace for £15m, the winger soon found himself playing second fiddle to the likes of Antonio Valencia at Old Trafford, watching from the sidelines as the Ecuadorian smashed cross after cross into the shins of opposing full-backs.
A loan to Cardiff failed to revive his career and Zaha was eventually sold back to Palace in a permanent deal this season.
Now, for the first time since his United exit, the 22-year-old has opened up about a frustrating move that initially promised so much.
“There is nothing worse than not being involved,” Zaha told The Telegraph.
“You are sitting there thinking ‘what exactly am I? A footballer who is not playing football?’ You feel a bit worthless sitting in the stands, watching all the time. You have nothing to speak about with the players.
“If you have played the game then it’s ‘well done’ or ‘you should have passed here or there’. But when you haven’t played, I think people lose a bit of respect for you. I think they are thinking ‘well, he’s not played’. They don’t have anything to speak to you about. It’s a big thing.”
Zaha has also revealed that it was a conversation with Louis Van Gaal which prompted him to leave Old Trafford.
“Eventually I spoke to Van Gaal and he said that right now I wasn’t good enough to get into the first team and I put my hands up and thought ‘no problem, I will go on loan’,” he continued.
“I’d rather he told me. Before that it was just rumours and here was a straight answer. I appreciated that and so I came back to Palace.”
Zaha will face his former employers at Selhurst Park on May 9.
