Manchester United defender credits Galatasaray ace for aiding his development; ‘I respected him a lot’

Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has credited former teammate Wilfried Zaha for aiding his development as a right-back. 

The pair will come head-to-head when the Red Devils lock horns with Galatasaray on Wednesday evening in their penultimate Champions League group-stage clash.

Wan-Bissaka arrived at Old Trafford on a £50 million package deal from Crystal Palace – where he played alongside Zaha – in 2019. Since then, he’s faced a battle to become the Reds’ first-choice on the right flank but has undoubtedly moved up in Erik ten Hag’s estimations over the past term; when fit, he is frequently granted a starting role over Diogo Dalot.

As for Zaha, he endured an underwhelming United career from 2013 to 2015 in which he was never really given a chance to prove his abilities under David Moyes, ending his spell in M16 with just two league appearances to his name before his Palace return.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that the winger celebrates against his former club whenever he’s notched a goal against them. More recently, he netted an equaliser in Galatsaray’s 3-2 win at Old Trafford in October.

Renowned for his dribbling, agility and composure on the ball, countered by Wan-Bissaka’s one-on-one tackling, it’s clear to see why the latter was able to develop his own skills when training with Zaha.

Wan-Bissaka on Zaha

Ahead of their meeting tomorrow night, United’s No.29 weighed in on their relationship, saying (via Manchester Evening News): “I’m happy for him to go out there [to Turkey] and he’s playing well for them now. I think he’s enjoying it. He’ll just be looking forward to the competition in that different league and also in the Champions League.

“You know, even from when I was training with him at Palace, I respected him a lot. That was the battle we had. That helped me as a player as well.

“You just never know with him, on what day, and you have just got to be prepared. Obviously, you just play your own game and, all that comes, you deal with it then.”

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