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Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha may well be on the move this summer; the Ivory Coast winger-cum-forward has outright stated that he wants to be playing Champions League football, and despite reportedly having 4 years left on his contract with the Eagles, it sounds like it’s going to be tricky for Roy Hodgson’s side to keep him at Selhurst Park.
One side that has been rumoured to be in the chase for Zaha’s signature are Manchester United, who are looking to rejuvenate their squad after a massively disappointing season. For those who’ve forgotten, of course, Zaha has already been at Old Trafford once; he moved there in the summer of 2013 but the move didn’t go to plan at all for him, and just a year later he was back at Palace.
So should Zaha try moving to United again? For me at least it’d be a bad idea – and here are 3 reasons why.
#1 He’d come off as a hypocrite
It’d be hard to really claim that Zaha hasn’t earned a move to a bigger club than Crystal Palace with his performances over the past couple of seasons; the Ivorian international has been the Eagles’ most outstanding player and was once again involved with the most Premier League goals at Palace this season.
Sure, he’s on a hefty contract at Selhurst Park; reportedly a weekly wage of somewhere around £130,000, a club record for Palace, but money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness, even in the world of football. So realistically, it’s unsurprising that Zaha would want to test himself against the very best, and also play alongside the very best, too.
That’s why reports recently claimed that he’s had talks about leaving with Palace chairman Steve Parish, and apparently stated outright that he wants to move somewhere that can offer him Champions League football next season.
Manchester United, though? The Red Devils haven’t qualified for the Champions League after finishing 6th in the league table, and to be quite frank, even when they were on a run of strong form in the early days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, it never really seemed likely that they’d muscle their way into the top 4.
Only a fool would claim that United aren’t a bigger club than Crystal Palace, but the bottom line is that they can’t offer Zaha Champions League football in 2019/20, and there’s no guarantee they’d be able to offer it to him in 2020/21 either.
After stating outright that Champions League football is his wish, to move to Old Trafford would make him come across as hypocritical, something that wouldn’t be good for any player.
Also see : Manchester Transfer News, EPL Transfer News
#2 United are a side in a flux
After an extremely poor 2018/19 – probably the worst season at Manchester United since the disastrous reign of David Moyes in 2013/14 – that saw the Red Devils finish 6th in the Premier League table, it’s pretty clear that right now, United are a club in flux and in dire need of a rebuild.
Whether that rebuild involves replacing most of the squad; cutting ageing stars like Ashley Young and Nemanja Matic and selling under-performing superstars like Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez, or a far more drastic move to replace manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with someone more experienced is a question mark right now, but however it goes, it’s hard to deny that a move to Old Trafford for any player right now would be a risk.
For a player like Zaha, who is looking to prove that he’s more than a big fish in a small pond and belongs in the conversation with the best attacking players in the world, it’d probably be a risk too far.
Sure, there’s the chance that Zaha – and a handful of other players – could revitalise United and transform them back into the superpower they once were, but there’s also the chance that things could go horribly wrong, leaving him remembered as another big-money flop.
A move to a club who are more settled right now – think Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham or Arsenal, who have also been linked with the Ivorian – might make more sense than the risk that is a move to United right now. After all, why join a project that could easily crash and burn?
#3 Old Trafford holds no happy memories
If Zaha had been at Crystal Palace without any gaps since he debuted there back in 2009/10, perhaps a move to Manchester United might make more sense right now. But the other problem with him moving to Old Trafford stems around the fact that he’s already been there once – he moved there for £10 million in the summer of 2013 – and the move hardly went to plan.
Zaha was of course signed by Sir Alex Ferguson, but when he arrived at United it was under the reign of David Moyes, and to say that the Ivorian didn’t fit in would be an understatement. Zaha made just 4 appearances for the Red Devils, had to deal with some horrendous rumours about his private life, and was then packed off on loan to Cardiff City – coincidentally managed at the time by current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Despite Moyes being fired in the summer of 2014, Zaha was still never given a fair opportunity at United the following season; instead, he was packed off back to Palace on loan and then made the move permanent in the January 2015 transfer window.
It must’ve been incredibly tough from a psychological standpoint for a young player like Zaha to have to rebuild his career practically from scratch after his first big move went wayward, and while the winger has obviously done a great job of maximising his talents since then, Old Trafford can hardly hold any happy memories for him.
So rather than return to attempt to right the wrongs, it’d probably be better for him to start afresh elsewhere – somewhere that he’ll be carrying no baggage.
