Wilfried Zaha has accused Manchester United of failing to give him adequate support after his £10m transfer in 2013, with the Crystal Palace forward admitting it led to depression.

Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last signing before he stepped down as United manager that summer and, aged 19, was handed a five-and-a-half-year contract in a deal that took him to Old Trafford at the end of the season. But having made his debut under the new manager David Moyes in the Community Shield, Zaha made only two Premier League appearances as a substitute before being allowed to join Cardiff on loan in January 2014.

The Ivory Coast forward eventually rejoined Palace after another loan spell at Selhurst Park and has since excelled in keeping his boyhood club in the Premier League for a record sixth successive season. But Zaha, now 25, said in an interview with ShortList that he was disappointed in the way he was treated at United and described life at the club as “hell”.

“Obviously, getting to United isn’t easy, so not being given a chance is hard to take. I don’t regret anything because it made me stronger. I feel as though I can deal with anything now,” he said.

“I went through so much with United, with England. There were rumours that the reason I wasn’t playing for United was because I slept with David Moyes’s daughter, and no one attempted to clear that up. So I was fighting my demons by myself, these rumours 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. 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 added: “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 opted to play international football for Ivory Coast in 2016 despite winning two senior England caps in friendlies under Roy Hodgson – who is now his manager at Palace – in 2012. Asked if he had any regrets over his decision, he added: “None. I did want to play with England because I’ve been here since the age of four but it reached a point where I thought: ‘What am I waiting for? I want an international career, am I really going to get an opportunity [with England]?’

“The Ivory Coast had been begging for ages. The country and the fans love me already, and I haven’t even done anything. I may not get the red carpet, it may not have the same Nike deals as when you play for England, but I’m going to be playing, I’m going to be loved and that’s all I want. Nothing else.

“So when I watched the World Cup I was annoyed, yeah, because we could have been there.”