Galatasaray's Wilfried Zaha reflects on Man Utd struggles ahead of Champions League clash

The forward was the final signing made by long-serving manager Sir Alex Ferguson, with the Red Devils agreeing a £15million deal for the Crystal Palace talent in January 2013.

But the Scot called time on his medal-laden reign before Zaha linked up with United that summer and the Ivory Coast international was never able to make an impact in the north-west.

The forward was loaned to Cardiff and Palace before permanently rejoining the Eagles in 2015, staying in south London until joining Turkish champions Galatasaray on a free transfer in the summer.

"Obviously Manchester United's a team that I was at before, I played for them before a long, long time ago," Zaha said at Old Trafford, where former club Palace won 1-0 on Saturday.

"Ten years forward, I'm 30 years old. I feel like I've matured in my game, I am at a big club, Galatasaray.

"I think with the help of the manager or the team we have, we have a lot of talent, a lot of experience, so, yeah, I think we're ready for the game tomorrow.

"Obviously they've got a good team but at the same time we've got players who can hurt them as well, so me personally I'm looking forward to the game."

Asked if what happened to him at United bothers him, Zaha said: "I'll be honest, when you look at my face do you think I am bothered at all? No.

"Realistically I think I went through a phase where you either build from it or you die out from it. And me personally, I was never going to die out from it.

"It built my character for me to just continue my career because I was determined to not let my career die out because I went somewhere and it didn't work out.

"I was just determined to reach where I wanted to reach and I am here today."

 

Read More: Raphael Varane: Man Utd have the 'quality' to win the Champions League (planetsport.com)