Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha says puts maturity down to why he didn’t make the grade at Manchester United.
The speedy attacker moved to Old Trafford from Palace in 2013 as Sir Alex Ferguson final signing for a fee worth approximately £15 million.
But Zaha failed to impress at United and managed just four first-team appearances.
After a frustrating two-years at the Premier League giants, Zaha was re-signed by his former club and is now better than ever.
The 25-year-old has admitted he made the move too early and wasn’t mature enough for a club as big as United.
“Me going to a big club when I was like 19 or 20, I didn’t know what to expect, how to behave, whatever,” he told Sky Sports.
“I was just a youngster who wanted to do tricks, I didn’t even care about end product really.
“Now I take things a lot more seriously – the gym aspect, recovery after games, my decision-making.
“I’ve learnt a lot in terms of my all-round game.
“I’m totally different now. I’m definitely more mature and more strong-minded.
“I had to be mentally strong after what I went through at Manchester United.
“I think in football, most of it is just mental. Once you’ve got that sorted, then you’re good.”
Zaha now has an impressive record at Palace – playing 141 games and scoring 23 goals for the south London club since returning to Selhurst Park.
There were many rumours doing the rounds during Zaha’s stint at United which did the young lad no favours, a lot of them were complete and utter rubbish.
It’s a relief to see Zaha get his career back on track and the fact he doesn’t blame anyone but himself for his underwhelming time at Old Trafford tells you he’s definitely at the mature stage of his life.
