Wilfried Zaha: Man Utd knocked my confidence but I'm home now at Crystal Palace

WILFRIED ZAHA says the smile is back on his face now that his Manchester United nightmare is over.

Wilfried ZahaGetty

Zaha is expected to start when Palace take on Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Cup

Speaking for the first time since the dust settled on his permanent move back to Selhurst Park after managing just 28 minutes of action in two years as a Manchester United employee, Zaha hinted at the loneliness he felt at being cast into the wilderness at Old Trafford.

He will forever go down in history as Sir Alex Ferguson’s final signing as Manchester United, a £10m white elephant of a legacy which his successor David Moyes quickly decided was not part of his masterplan.

Having been farmed out on loan last season, Zaha found little further encouragement from Louis Van Gaal and returned to Palace, where he initially made his name, for a second loan placement.

That move was made permanent on transfer deadline day when Zaha signed a five-and-a-half year permanent contract for a knockdown fee in the region of just £3m. When wages are factored in, Zaha’s half-hour of Premier League service had cost United around £11m.

Wilfried Zaha - Player Profile

Everything is local to me, my family, my friends. I just play football and go home with a smile on my face

Wilfried Zaha

But Zaha, unburdened from all the expectation again, has learned the hard way that you cannot put a price on happiness.

“There were other clubs but in my mind I wanted to come back to Palace,” he said. “It is somewhere I like and is definitely the club I want to be at.

“I am back home. Everything is local to me, my family my friends. I just play football and go home with a smile on my face.”

Fortunately for Zaha the road back to Palace was eased by the fact he is a particular favourite of the chairman Steve Parish, but new manager Alan Pardew, who tried to sign him for Newcastle, is also a major part of the equation.

The England international admits his confidence was knocked sideways by his experiences at United, but little-by-little, the attitude that earned him his move in the first place is slowly being rebuilt.

“Well, if you’re not playing...it’s just, ‘What am I doing?’” said Zaha.

“Me not playing at all hit my confidence but now I am playing again.

“The manager is just trying to get my confidence back up really and told me to concentrate a bit more during games.

“During games I sometimes switch off or whatever. He has told me to work hard on my concentration and have a bit more belief in my game.”

Wilfried ZahaGetty

Zaha failed to impress during his time at Old Trafford

Zaha hopes to take all of that into today’s visit of Liverpool in the fifth round, where he will come up against a winger who has suffered no such crisis of confidence.

“I am looking forward to that Cup game,” he said.

“Raheem Sterling is a pretty good mate of mine. We haven’t started texting each other about it yet I’ll probably just see him at the game.

“A decent cup run would be the icing on the cake for us. We are playing quite well right now. We just have the confidence to play well against any team.

“I don’t know but it seems if you are playing well then any team has a chance of winning.”

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