Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha and team-mates splash out £6,000 on electronic wheelchairs for Powerchair team
Winger has matured on and off the pitch after failed spell at Manchester United
WILFRIED ZAHA is pictured with a new set of wheels — and shows how much he has matured off the pitch as well as on it.
The Crystal Palace winger, 24, was slammed for splashing out on a string of flash motors during his short and unsuccessful stint at Manchester United.
But he is clearly now on the right road as he trained with the Eagles’ Powerchair footballers.
The disabled team were set up by the club’s Palace For Life Foundation. And Zaha and his team-mates have backed the ‘Wheelgles’ by buying them electronic chairs at £6,000 each.
The Ivory Coast international said: “I grew up in this area and the Foundation is helping my community, so when I get the chance to support them I do.”
Those who thought the wheels had come off Zaha’s career are having to park those opinions.
He has been in outstanding form under new boss Sam Allardyce, inspiring the run which has seen Palace win five of their last six games to haul themselves six points clear of the relegation zone.
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No wonder they are hoping Zaha will sign a new deal in the summer.
Allardyce, whose side host Leicester today, said: “Moving clubs for the first time can be difficult for a young man.
“Moving to Manchester and effectively losing your mates can be a pretty lonely experience and that can affect your football, especially when you are not playing. But Wilf has gained that experience and our chairman Steve Parish was extremely clever in negotiating his return.
“We are all now benefitting from that and hopefully he will stay here for a long time.
“That will only be determined in the summer. We would all love him to stay.”
Parish admitted Zaha has come of age, but insisted he is not as flash as is often portrayed.
He said: “Wilf has matured, but he has always been there to support our community work.
“Player comes out of a nightclub or buys a new car is a much more interesting story.
“He is like many players up and down the country, doing work like this but nobody sees it.”
- The Palace for Life Foundation has launched with a mission to transform the lives of young south Londoners through sport, encouraging them to be more active, helping them become employable and assisting the disadvantaged.