Zaha details Manchester United 'hell': I was fighting my demons alone

Former Manchester United prodigy Wilfried Zaha has revealed his time at the club descended into a personal "hell" before he was able to move back to Crystal Palace.

Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson's final United signing when he was bought from the Eagles, his boyhood club, for a reported initial £10-million fee in January 2013. However, by the time he finally linked up with the team that summer, Ferguson had been replaced by David Moyes, and Zaha ultimately played just four times for the Red Devils before returning to Palace in the summer of 2014.

Looking back at his time at United, the Ivorian international admitted he was "so down and depressed" at the lack of support he was given as a youngster at the English behemoth.

"I went through so much with United, with England," he told ShortList. "There were rumors that the reason I wasn't playing for United was because I slept with David Moyes' daughter, and no one attempted to clear that up. So I was fighting my demons by myself, these rumors that I knew weren't true.

I was dealing with this at 19; living in Manchester by myself, nowhere near anyone else, because the club had a hold over where I lived. They hadn't given me a car, like every other player (had been given). Nothing. I'm living in this hell by myself, away from my family, and I thought: 'If this doesn't make me stronger, what will?'"

He continued: "When I was at United I had (money), but I was still so down and depressed. People think your life's different because you've got money, you've got fame, so they don't treat you the same."

Zaha's career has turned around since his return to Palace. Player of the Year at Selhurst Park in each of the last three seasons, he enjoyed the most prolific campaign last term and has scored three goals in four games in 2018-19.