:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45607482/462269596.0.jpg)
Wilfried Zaha has left Manchester United for good. The winger has rejoined Crystal Palace on a permanent basis, having signed on loan at Selhurst Park earlier this season. The fee is reported to be around £3m up front, with extensive add-ons; a loss on the reported £10m — rising to around £15m — fee he commanded just two years ago.
In all, Zaha played just four games for United, two substitute appearances in the Premier League, and two starts, one in the League Cup and one in the Community Shield. For an investment of around £15m, you have to call that something of a disappointment. He's definitely got talent, though whether he was badly handled by David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, unable to adjust to life at Old Trafford, or simply never good when Alex Ferguson signed him, isn't clear.
However, he has secured himself a place in United's history; when he took to the field against Wigan, he became Manchester United's first (and so far only) Z. So, er, that's something.
Update: finally, proper confimation. Five-and-a-half year deal, and he's delighted. Over in the Telegraph, Mark Ogden reckons he was toast "From the moment the £12 million signing from Crystal Palace turned up in jeans and trainers for the flight to Bangkok on the first leg of United's 2013 summer tour - everybody else was dressed in club suit and tie."