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When Wilfried Zaha signed for Manchester United in a £15million deal last year, he must have thought he had really made the big time.

I wish now that I had taken him to one side after a Crystal Palace training session and warned him that it wasn’t the end of his journey to the top of the game, it was just the first step.

Wilf is joining Cardiff on loan after playing just 28 minutes of Premier League football in five months at the champions under David Moyes.

No doubt, some people will now label the lad a waste of money. But I will tell Sunday Mirror Sport readers exactly what I told Sir Alex Ferguson when I rang the great man last January to ask whether United’s interest in the England winger was serious:

Wilf has got the world at his feet.

At the age of 21, he has more natural talent than any footballer I have played with or managed during a lifetime in the game. What he has got to prove now is that he also has the temperament.

Wilf has only one person to blame for the fact that his only start in the famous red shirt so far was a Capital Cup tie against Norwich in October: Himself.

He hasn’t been a regular in the United team simply because he hasn’t done what his manager has demanded from him.

(Image: Christopher Lee)

There are plenty of excuses for Wilf to fall back on – and I know, from experience, that ­footballers love an excuse.

Sir Alex has retired and his successor is guiding the club through a turbulent transitional period. Or perhaps David Moyes doesn’t recognise Wilf’s potential in the way that Fergie did. That’s a cop-out, as far as I’m concerned.

When Moyes took over at Old Trafford, every single player had the same chance to prove their worth to the new manager, whether that be on the training ground or on the pitch.

Unfortunately for the player I managed at Palace, one of those who answered the door when opportunity came knocking was Adnan Januzaj, an equally precocious talent who operates in the same areas of the pitch as Wilf.

At 18, Januzaj doesn’t have the experience that Wilf has built up over 124 games for Palace and two appearances for England. But the kid certainly has an attitude that has made Moysey sit up and take notice.

Januzaj has been absolutely compelling during what has been a difficult season for the defending ­champions. He has made it impossible for his manager to leave

him out.

Wilf has gone from being a big fish in the small pond of the Championship and is now a minnow in the shark-infested waters of the Premier League.

And it’s been a struggle.

I hope he uses his sabbatical in South Wales to show United exactly what they are missing. Believe me, he is one helluva player. And he is also a terrific lad, a manager’s dream, in my experience.

So, I was surprised by reports during the week that he had been dropped to the bench for a reserve game because he turned up late.

(Image: Stu Forster)

That isn’t the Wilfried Zaha I know and I am sure that he would not have shown such a lack of respect to his club on purpose. But, as a manager, I can’t condone any player failing to get to a game on time.

And, again, it’s all about attitude. Or lack of attitude.

I will always be grateful to Wilf for the role he played in helping Palace to win ­promotion to the top flight when I was the manager at Selhurst Park.

And that’s why I have his best intentions at heart when I say the time has come for him to take stock of his life and career and grow up a little bit.

Because, believe me, there is nothing more tragic than ­unfulfilled potential.