Top 5 academy graduates outside of the 'Big Six' | Premier League 2019-20

#4 Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Wilfried Zaha has often carried Crystal Palace on his back when they've struggled

No Premier League club can truly be considered a ‘one-man team’, but it definitely feels like Crystal Palace come close at times. That’s because Roy Hodgson’s Eagles can call upon the services of one of the very best attackers in England’s top flight in the form of Wilfried Zaha – and the Ivory Coast international is one of their own, having been produced by Palace’s academy after joining them as a 12-year old.

Zaha first broke into the first team at Selhurst Park in the 2010-11 season, and by the end of 2012-13 – the campaign that saw Palace promoted from the EFL Championship to the Premier League via the play-offs – his star had risen to the point that he was recognised as one of the country’s best young players. The summer of 2013 saw him sign with Manchester United – but he failed to settle at Old Trafford, and after one season away, he was back with his boyhood club.

Since then, he’s gone from strength to strength, using his remarkable dribbling ability, tremendous work ethic and goalscoring skills to practically carry the Eagles through some of their matches. When Palace have needed someone to step up, Zaha has always been there to pull something special out of his bag of tricks.

Given his links with most of the Premier League’s bigger clubs, how much longer the Eagles can hold onto the Ivorian remains debatable, but for now he remains firmly a Palace player, and if they are able to retain their Premier League place again in the current season – which seems highly likely – then Zaha certainly deserves plenty of credit.