Manchester United: 'I felt worthless at Old Trafford', says Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha

Wilfried Zaha has revealed he left Manchester United and rejoined Crystal Palace after he felt worthless and frustrated during his time at Old Trafford.

United manager Louis van Gaal allowed the 22-year-old to join Palace on loan last summer, before his move was made permanent earlier in January. He was Sir Alex Ferguson's last signing, but the winger never played under the legendary manager.

Zaha earlier admitted that his spell with the 20-time English champions had damaged his confidence. However, the England international has now regained his form at Selhurst Park under Alan Pardew's guidance.

"There is nothing worse than not being involved. You are sitting there thinking 'what exactly am I? A footballer who is not playing football?' You feel a bit worthless sitting in the stands, watching all the time. You have nothing to speak about with the players," Zaha told the Telegraph.

"If you have played the game then it's 'well done' or 'you should have passed here or there'. But when you haven't played... I think people lose a bit of respect for you. I think they are thinking 'well, he's not played'. They don't have anything to speak to you about. It's a big thing.

"And I'm frustrated when I am not playing. My family is frustrated. My friends are frustrated. I am starting the game. I am happy again. It's a great feeling [to play regularly at Palace]," he added.

David Moyes, former Red Devils manager, never explained to Zaha as to why he was not featuring regularly for United. The winger admitted that he was given a straightforward answer by Van Gaal, which prompted him to leave Old Trafford and return to Palace last summer.

"Eventually I spoke to Van Gaal and he said that right now I wasn't good enough to get into the first team and I put my hands up and thought 'no problem, I will go on loan'. I'd rather he told me. Before that it was just rumours and here was a straight answer. I appreciated that and so I came back to Palace," the Palace winger concluded.