He played twice for England and then chose the Ivory Coast. That one decision says a lot about Wilfried Zaha, a footballer who has spent his career pulled between the place he was born and the place that made him.
Abidjan and south London
Zaha was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and moved with his family to south London as a child. He grew up near Croydon and joined the youth academy of Crystal Palace, the club closest to home. He made his senior debut in 2010 and quickly became the most exciting young player at Selhurst Park, a winger who ran at defenders and dared them to tackle him.
Manchester United
In January 2013, Manchester United signed Zaha, with reports of the fee ranging from £10 million to £15 million. He was loaned back to Palace for the rest of the season and helped them win promotion to the Premier League. Then everything changed. Sir Alex Ferguson, who had signed him, retired that summer. Under David Moyes, Zaha barely played. He made only a handful of appearances and was loaned to Cardiff City.
Coming home
Palace brought him back, first on loan and then permanently in 2015. Over the following years he became the club’s talisman. He was fouled more than almost any player in the league, and he won Palace’s player of the season award several times. Fans sang his name, and big clubs kept enquiring. He stayed for years longer than most people expected.
England or the Ivory Coast
Zaha played for England’s youth teams and won two senior caps for England in friendlies in 2012 and 2013. Because they were not competitive matches, he remained eligible for the Ivory Coast. In 2017 he switched, and he went on to play at the Africa Cup of Nations for the Elephants.
Galatasaray
In the summer of 2023, after his contract with Palace ran out, Zaha joined Galatasaray in Turkey on a free transfer. He scored and won the league title in his first season in Istanbul. Later moves took him on loan to Lyon in France and then, in 2025, to Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer.
Speaking out
Zaha has spoken publicly about racist abuse he received on social media. In 2021 he became one of the first Premier League players to stop taking the knee before matches, saying he felt the gesture had become routine without bringing real change.
What he means at Palace
Crystal Palace has had better players in its history, but few who meant as much. Zaha was a local boy who left, failed at a big club and came home to become the best player the club had seen in a generation. When he left in 2023, Palace supporters lined up to say goodbye to a player who had given them nearly a decade of reasons to turn up.
