Revealed: Zaha's advice for friend Wan-Bissaka
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has revealed the advice Wilfried Zaha gave him on completing his move to Manchester United.
The pair were colleagues at Crystal Palace, Saturday's opponents, and Wan-Bissaka's performances in training against the Ivory Coast international convinced the Eagles to consider keeping him in the right-back position.
Ahead of the reunion with the former Reds forward, Wan-Bissaka spoke to United Review, the official matchday programme, about what Zaha told him about his stay at Old Trafford.
"It started with him," revealed our summer signing. "If you see him in training, he goes past players for fun, so when I played against him, a lot of people were shocked; firstly because I wasn’t a right-back, but also because they hadn’t seen anyone keep up with him before, so I kind of gave him that challenge, which helped both of us.
"It prepared me for the kind of player I’d be up against when I made my debut. I learnt a lot from him.
"I’m still in touch with a few people at the club. When I signed for United, Wilf gave me advice too. He told me: “When you come in, don’t go in your shell. You came here for a reason. Play without fear. Do what you did last season and keep consistent. He was very positive about United."
Any friendships with the Palace players will soon go out of the window come three o'clock on Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford.
"I haven’t seen them in a while, so it’ll be nice to catch up," the defender added. "But at the same time, once that whistle goes, I’ll forget about my past with them.
"I’m a United player and I’ve got to focus on us getting the result.
"It’ll be good to see a few faces, though."
Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson's final signing as United boss but only arrived after the Scot retired.
He won the 2013 Community Shield with David Moyes's side but joined Cardiff City at the end of the January transfer window in 2014, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.The 26-year-old is likely to be a major threat at the weekend.
United face Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday, with kick-off at 15:00 BST. Guarantee a seat with a Matchday VIP Experience.
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