Thoughts On Wilfried Zaha’s Move To Manchester United

Is £15 million the right amount for Wilfried Zaha ? Has Sir Alex Ferguson got it right this time around ? Well we will at-least have to wait another 6 months to find out more. For now it seems a pretty decent deal considering the situation over Nani and the inconsistent wingers Young and Valencia.

So when an unknown English kid hit the headlines, it was Arsenal and Wenger who were the first to be linked, but there was never really any interest from the London club as they already have a young British talent in the name of Alex – Oxalade Chamberlain. United were pretty much in the chase for Zaha and have ended up signing their target who will move to Old Trafford permanently at the end of this season.

Wilfried Zaha in line to become another Nani ? Or is he much more than that ?

What can the Ivorian – English Wilfried Zaha offer to United ?

Zaha currently playing for Crystal Palace is probably the only star of the team amidst an average set of first team players and with the current trend of giving importance to English players (home grown players) Zaha will surely have a lot of freedom with the Championship side. It is one of the reason why he has shined and looks like such a good player. So the big question is, can he maintain his standards when he joins a team packed with stars around him ? At United he has to be more disciplined and more of a ‘team player”. However It is impossible to say whether he will or not. Only time will tell, I guess.

Young, pacey, skillful wingers are a dime a dozen and unless they are an incredible talent, one can’t justify spending £15 million on a youngster.

Having already failed over the signature of Ashley Young who by the time was already an established star and having the ever so inconsistent Nani and Valencia in the squad, one would hope Ferguson must have thought this through. The rule about having home grown players in the 25 man squad should have also played a considerable part in the transfer.

Let’s take an example with Arsenal’s Chamberlain. Arsenal payed a similar amount for the youngster and he was even younger. That being said, Chamberlain is not an out an out winger, he can excel in the midfield role also. He plays on the wing at the moment, but you can see he is going to make his career as a central midfielder. He said it himself, his father has said it and Wenger has said it. Chamberlain is a lot technically gifted to be wasted out on the wings throughout his career.

Zaha who is probably worth around £10-11 Million has been roped in by United for a fairly over priced deal, mainly due to the hype around him. At £15mil he becomes a very expensive gamble, by Sir Alex Ferguson.

From United and their fan’s point of view, it can only be said Fergie will do to Zaha what he did with Ronaldo. Ferguson paid around £12 million for Ronaldo when he was 18 and turned him into one of the  best players on the planet. Wilfried Zaha has bags of talent, and given a first team opportunity with Fergie and the rest of the staff guiding him, he can easily match his potential.