Rio Ferdinand says that Manchester United “mishandled” Wilfried Zaha’s transfer from Crystal Palace – and has admitted that he has his own share of the blame. Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last signing as manager of Manchester United in January 2013, with the winger staying at Palace until the summer. But Ferguson retired before Zaha had a chance to work with him. Zaha had a loan spell at Cardiff City before moving back to Selhurst Park on a permanent deal in 2015.
Wilfred Zaha said “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. I had no idea he was leaving, He didn’t tell me exactly how he wanted me to play. He just told me straightforward stuff like obviously you know, ‘you’re going to have to fight for your position, you’re not going to play all the time, there’s a lot of youngster in the team so you’ll be able to go in with the likes of [Danny] Welbeck and [Tom] Cleverley’. And I was like, ‘that is more than fine, all I want is my opportunity to show what I can do’. It was a straightforward conversation.”
Rio Ferdinand said “Wilfried Zaha was mishandled by Manchester United I believe, Although the club had started a big transition and as a senior player I should have done more to help him.”
