Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha says Manchester United never saw his best.

Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson's last signing before he retired.

"I was a shell of Wilfried Zaha," explains Crystal Palace's talismanic winger, recalling his time with Manchester United and, later, Cardiff City on loan. “It wasn't me at all. People never got the real me when I was there. I was a ghost of myself at the club, I didn't used to speak to anyone, I used to just go there and do what I had to do and then go back home. I just wasn't myself."

For friend and former teammate, Yannick Bolasie, Zaha's United transfer still carries a twang of misfortune. As flamboyant in his assessment as he was on the pitch, the former Eagle told the club's website: “I still feel today he was unlucky because Sir Alex Ferguson left.

“At that time, my perception was, with his ability and what I'd seen him do live, he was going there to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo. That's my perception. I don't really like putting players on that kind of pedestal, but that's what I could see: Sir Alex Ferguson transforming him."