Now back at Palace, via a loan spell with Cardiff City, Zaha is happy

But the winger has since revealed he has never even met her

His stay at Old Trafford proved unhappy and opportunities were limited

The time has come for Wilfried Zaha. The time to set the record straight. The time to tell his side of the story after England's most electrifying teenager was dumped by Manchester United months after they splashed £15million on him.

Sitting behind a desk inside Crystal Palace's training ground, Zaha looks a settled individual. There remain question marks about his consistency, but under the guidance of Alan Pardew he is trying to iron out those problems. He is happy learning, happy listening.

Palace offer the type of guidance he found so absent at United, an atmosphere he describes as so mechanical that the 22-year-old says it gave him depression.

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha speaks to Sportsmail in a tell-all interview at the club's training ground

Zaha (left) tussles for possession with Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov in the League Cup

In January 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson made Zaha his last signing before retirement, but the day they met is the only time they spoke.

Ferguson did not ring Zaha when United loaned him straight back to Palace in the Championship. He did not check how he felt or how he was playing and did not offer any reassurances that he remained in his plans.

The same can be said of Ferguson's successor David Moyes, who all but ignored Zaha at United's training ground at Carrington, preferring to speak only to those involved at weekends.

It is little wonder Zaha sounds relieved at the end of this interview, saying he was glad to have finally opened up about his time at Old Trafford, as he attempts to quash myths before Louis van Gaal's side turn up at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon.

'The thing that really frustrated me about the whole United thing was the fact that people didn't know what actually went on at the training ground,' he says. 'There were just a load of rumours that used to just come out somehow and people would believe them.

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

'As soon as anybody sees me now, people think, "Wilfried Zaha, bad attitude." I don't understand why.

'It's like playing any other team in the league now for me, I don't feel anything about them any more.'

For the record, Zaha confirmed he has never met Moyes's daughter, Lauren.

Zaha says that he was unhappy at Manchester United and felt isolated by the atmosphere at the club

During Zaha's time at United, rumours surfaced that he had slept with David Moyes's daughter, Lauren

The winger says that he never met Lauren and does not understand why the rumours came about

Zaha, playing for United, vies for the ball with Wigan's Stephen Crainey in the 2013 Community Shield

Zaha says that he endured a distant relationship with former Red Devils boss Moyes

As for Ferguson, it has transpired the former United boss had already decided to retire before he met Zaha alongside Sir Bobby Charlton in London early in 2013.

It had not even occurred to Zaha to broach the subject, and he was left disappointed by the man who inherited the Old Trafford hotseat, too.

'I was disappointed (when Sir Alex retired),' says Zaha. 'I was looking forward to working with him but I'm not going to beg him to come back on my account! I just had to get on with it.

'I think I did OK in pre-season, won a man of the match, but as soon as Moyes came he said I wasn't ready for the Premier League.'

Did Moyes say why? 'No. I didn't really understand it. I never got a response really.

'The only thing that I could think of was the bad game against Wigan in the Community Shield. It stresses me out if I mess up. I beat myself up. But I just thought, "You have seen me play in pre-season, you have seen that I am at least decent enough to score a goal or something". From there, he just stopped playing me.'

Zaha was offered little explanation behind his first-team exile at United and later rejoined Palace

Zaha skips past Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala (left) during the League Cup fourth-round tie

Zaha left Old Trafford having never started a Premier League game and came back to Palace permanently via a loan spell at Cardiff during the club's relegation campaign.

'It's not all bad for me, I haven't faded away,' he says. 'I'm still playing — I'm still getting a chance. Going to Manchester United you're expected to be the final product. That's what it felt like. Maybe it would've been different with Ferguson, but I felt you had to be pinpoint on everything.

'I had to go to training knowing that I wasn't going to be playing. Then I would see United fans making jokes. I went through that every single day. I lived up there by myself with not really anybody to speak to.'

Dialogue is encouraged in south London, though. Zaha talks of feeling unburdened, of becoming more reliable defensively and of how Pardew talks through his mistakes with him, particularly after hauling him off at half-time in three games this season.

Zaha controls the ball ahead of Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs at the King Power Stadium

Zaha scores during the 3-3 Premier League draw with Newcastle at St James' Park last season

Zaha is relishing the positive chemistry he shares with Eagles manager Alan Pardew

Who knows what would have happened had United paid more attention, but Pardew firmly believes his No 11 would deserve a place in Van Gaal's team at the moment.

Zaha, however, is not looking back and is in the process of buying a house in London — 'the main thing for me, where my family is'. There also remains a hope that he could work his way into Roy Hodgson's England plans next summer.

'Pardew doesn't treat me like a robot,' says Zaha, who might start on the bench. 'I live my life fine now. I don't live and be scared of what might happen. I just come play.'

Zaha is playing the best football of his career, and now with his brain unscrambled, Saturday might just be the right time for him to show United exactly what they passed up.

With his United nightmare behind him, Zaha is looking forward, perhaps even to a role with England



