WILFRIED ZAHA has finally opened up on rumours he slept with David Moyes’ daughter while at Manchester United.
The now Crystal Palace star, 27, was one of the best performers in pre-season for the Red Devils in 2013 having moved to Old Trafford from Selhurst Park.
Despite that promising start, he was left out of the first-team squad by Moyes, who also arrived at United that summer, at the beginning of the campaign with rumours regarding an alleged relationship with his manager’s daughter circulating online.
He never fulfilled his potential at United and eventually returned to Palace full-time in 2015 after initially going back on loan.
Now he has hit out at his former employers for failing to offer him any guidance while speculation surrounding his love life continued to spiral.
Speaking to ex-team-mate Rio Ferdinand for The Locker Room, the winger said: “No one at the club at all told me anything, I didn’t know what to do whatsoever.
“I remember tweeting something about it saying ‘silly rumours’ because it was getting too much, so I had to say something myself and then I remember the club media messaging me saying ‘you shouldn’t have done that, you shouldn’t have done this’ and I’m thinking ‘you haven’t helped me.’
“I’m here by myself, struggling because people are telling me I’ve slept with the manager’s daughter and that’s why you’re not playing me.
“The funny thing is, it’s carried on for so long I felt like, is the manager not going to come and have a word with me over this?
“That’s how I felt and I’m thinking this is ridiculous man. Up to this day I still get people that think that’s true and I’ve never even met his daughter.”
Zaha openly admits he found life difficult as a teenager with a £15m price-tag in a new city and miles away from his native South London.
And he insists no-one in the United hierarchy offered him any support or help during the traumatic period.
Zaha added: “It was stressful. I’m 19, I’m living in Manchester and all of a sudden we come back from a tour and I’m not playing for no reason so obviously [people] are going to make up rumours.
“I’m in Manchester where I’m by myself, and I’m not playing on top of that, so it’s stressful enough to have a rumour.
“People came out with it, I see it trending on Twitter, people came out with how can he play so well on tour then just be dashed out like that with nothing, no one telling us anything – he must have slept with the manager’s daughter.
“And that started going and I’m 19, and my Twitter is blowing up. I’ve never had it before and my Twitter is blowing up and there’s no one for me to speak to.”
Zaha has now returned to top form at Palace with 31 goals and 42 assists during the five seasons since coming back to the capital.
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https://www.sportingexcitement.com/football/premier-league/england-legend-viv-anderson-calls-on-all-premier-league-stars-to-take-a-knee-for-george-floyd
