Friday 20 May 2016 00:10, UK
Alan Pardew says Sir Alex Ferguson remains a fan of Wilfried Zaha and believes he is good enough to still be at Manchester United.
Crystal Palace manager Pardew is also convinced the forward is learning from the mistakes which may have contributed to ending his United career.
Zaha will face his former team in Saturday's FA Cup final and could be central to Palace's hopes of victory at Wembley.
After joining United for £15m in January 2013, he spent 18 months of his two-year spell there on loan at Palace and Cardiff before making his move back to Selhurst Park in February 2015.
He made only four first-team appearances under David Moyes at Old Trafford before being sold by Louis van Gaal, but has impressed this season and was last week named Palace's Player of the Year.
Zaha was also Ferguson's last signing before he retired from management but, having witnessed him mature, Pardew believes he will continue to improve.
"I know that Sir Alex Ferguson still feels that he is a Man Utd player," said Pardew.
"He can beat players for fun, he has a great physique. There's a lot going on there. (He's) probably an unfinished talent.
"When you are not in the team - and he wasn't at Man Utd - that might have been an issue for him and the manager and the staff.
"I have tried to understand that with him and tried to educate him, that he has to do things in training that might not necessarily be about him. He has got better at that.
"He also doesn't react well to disappointment; he sometimes takes a while to kick back into gear.
"This is a young player who has great talent. He is learning a lot this year. He is the player of the year. There is a reason for that."
Zaha was this week praised by Yohan Cabaye, who last summer joined Palace from Paris Saint-Germain, as someone capable of playing for Ligue 1 champions.
Questions were asked about Zaha's attitude while with Cardiff, United and the England U21s, but Pardew is adamant he has no such problem and even credits some of his improvement to another maverick performer, Emmanuel Adebayor.
"I don't think there's a problem with Wilf now. His personality traits have improved around the group," added Pardew.
"That comes from us leaning on him, the other players helping him, senior players like Adebayor giving him little nuggets of information.
"He can have a big final, and I really hope he has one, not just for Crystal Palace but for him personally."
