After a difficult spell at Manchester United, Wilfried Zaha returned to Crystal Palace and has established himself as a club legend but he has faced his fair share of criticism.
The Ivory Coast international began his career at Selhurst Park, hitting 18 goals and providing 28 assists in his first spell with the Eagles, ahead of his £15m move to Manchester United in January 2013.
However, the winger was afforded very few opportunities during his time at Old Trafford, making just four appearances for the senior side, before he returned to Crystal Palace on loan for the 2014/15 season, making his return permanent in February 2015 for just £6m.
Zaha has been a consistent performer in Palace’s side ever since and has remained at Selhurst Park despite reports linking him away in nearly every transfer window.
Despite some strong form in the 2016/17 campaign, which saw him enjoy the best Premier League season of his career at the time with seven goals and 11 assists, Harry Redknapp was quick to criticise his performances after he was overlooked by England and pledged his allegiance to the Ivory Coast.
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He said: “Zaha’s delivery hasn’t been good enough. He’s got to do a lot more if he’s going to be a top player. Zaha has ended up being a big disappointment.”
Considering Zaha currently sits on 87 goals and 74 assists for Crystal Palace in 437 appearances, it is safe to say that Redknapp got it badly wrong about the winger.
The 29-year-old keeps on getting better and after enjoying the best goalscoring season of his career in the last campaign with 14 top-flight goals, Zaha looks on track to be Palace’s talisman again this season.
Indeed, the player who Thomas Frank claimed has “unbelievable” magic in his boots has scored four goals and has one assist to his name in the opening seven Premier League games.
While there are doubts about Zaha’s future at Selhurst Park, as his contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign, there is no question that he will be remembered as a Crystal Palace legend and one of the best players outside of the top six, so it seems clear that Redknapp was far too quick to judge Zaha in 2017.