Zaha: I was depressed at United

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha said he did not enjoy his time at Manchester United, admitting he felt depressed at times.

Zaha re-joined Palace on a permanent basis in February following a forgettable spell at Old Trafford, making only four appearances without starting a Premier League match.

The 22-year-old, who was signed by Alex Ferguson in a deal worth £15million in 2013, was plagued by rumours about David Moyes’ daughter and his application in training.

“At times I was depressed. I felt a lot of things. When I don’t play well nobody needs to say anything to me,” Zaha said.

“I beat myself up. It stresses me out if I mess it up.”

He added: “I played in all the pre-season games and then in the Wigan game I never played my best.

“I played for England and then zero games. Then the rumours started basically because he just stopped playing me with no actual reason that I knew.

“It was either: I slept with David Moyes’ daughter or I have got a bad attitude. Those are the two rumours that stuck with me until I left Man United. I have had no say since then.

“I never even met her [Moyes’ daughter]. But as soon as anybody sees me now, people think: Wilfried Zaha, bad attitude. I just don’t understand why. I went through that every single day.

“Getting constant tweets, people outside making jokes. I just had to take that on knowing that I wasn’t going to play for United either. I lived up there by myself as well so there was not really anybody to speak to.”