But it was not long before he was terrorising defenders with the extravagant skills, close dribbling and searing pace that would come to define his career.
"He plays cage football on the Premier League stage", says Kwesi Appiah, his former team-mate. "He's a ridiculous, outrageous player and leaves a Palace legend."
Last night, Zaha joined Galatasaray on a free transfer after 90 goals and 76 assists in 458 games for Palace.
The boy who grew up in Thornton Heath departs as arguably the greatest player in the club's history.
Zaha arrived in south London from the Ivory Coast aged four, the eighth of nine children in a family seeking better opportunities.
He joined Palace Under-10s after being spotted playing for Whitehorse Wanderers and, barring a short move to Manchester United which included six months on loan at Cardiff, has been there ever since. Zaha made his Palace debut when the club were in danger of liquidation. Palace were taken over by Steve Parish's CPFC2010 consortium that summer and since then Zaha has symbolised the most successful era in their history.
Denne historien er fra July 25, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra July 25, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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