Scouting Report: Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Name: Wilfried Zaha

Age: 19

Club: Crystal Palace

Position: Winger

Wilfried Zaha has made close to 100 appearances already for Crystal Palace despite being only 19 years old. The club describe him as being “fast, strong and full of tricks” and when you watch him play he always delivers.

It didn’t take Zaha long to get in the manager’s mind after his debut in March 2010 and in the 2010-2011 campaign, Zaha became a key member of the Crystal Palace first team and one of the first names on the team sheet.

In March 2012, Wilfried Zaha won the Championship Young Player of the Year award and Palace defender Paddy McCarthy praised Zaha, comparing him to Victor Moses due to his speed and agility. Zaha was keen to prove his is deserving of such praise and started the 2012-2013 season of brightly with an assist against Exeter in the League Cup and winning an important penalty for the team against Watford in the league.

Crystal Palace are currently on a poor streak, with only 3 points out of a possible 12 but despite these poor team performances, Zaha has still managed to shine.

Wilfried Zaha therefore looks to be a bright prospect for the future. Palace managed to hold on to him despite interest from a number of Premier League teams in the summer 2012 transfer window and in a year or two, Zaha could have developed into a complete winger.

He is never afraid to take on a defender and beat a man and he helps to get the crowd on their feet. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Zaha being snapped up by a Premier League team in the next year or two but Palace will want to hold out for a good sum of money for a player they have helped develop from such a young age.

Written by Ryan McDowell