Crystal Palace star man Wilfried Zaha has admitted it was an easy decision to remain at Selhurst Park this summer.
Zaha was one of the summer’s longest ‘will he, won’t he’ stories, with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham and Everton all said to be interested in his signature.
While many different outlets claimed their own separate account of the story, claiming that Zaha had handed in a transfer request, or refused to play for Palace, or that he didn’t in fact want to leave – Zaha himself never strayed from the narrative that he was happy with the Eagles.
The 25-year old was a major component in ensuring the club survived relegation from the Premier League last season, and fans had hoped he would help the club kick on this year in their first full season under Roy Hodgson.
And so far Zaha has done so, having already got off the mark this season when he netted against newly promoted Fulham on the opening day.
Zaha, who joined Palace’s academy at the age of 12, clearly holds the club near and dear to his heart, which made the decision to stay even easier for the forward. Talking to Sky Sports, Zaha said:
There was no real rush for me to move to another team.
All the speculation, I never said anything, I just kept my head down, playing football and I feel like it’s the right thing to do. I’m at home here and I’m playing football regularly, I’m enjoying my football so it was a no brainer.
Why do I really need to move? That’s what I thought about and I thought ‘why not stay put?’ I’m playing in the Premier League, I’m happy, I’m near my family so there was no real reason to leave.
I feel like I’m mentally much stronger. I can deal with a lot more. With the way my career has gone, I’ve had ups and downs and I’m thankful for going through what I’ve gone through because now I’m a stronger person.
I can deal with the media, I can deal with some of the criticism I get and still focus on what I need to do.
Palace travel to Vicarage Road to play Watford on Sunday, and Zaha is expected to feature for the away side.
