Recently, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ian Wright and Patrick Vieira were inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in London.
At the event – which took place at the Shard – Vieira was asked which current Premier League players he thinks could one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Frenchman named Sadio Mané and Kevin De Bruyne, but the other name he mentioned will please Crystal Palace fans.
What’s the story?
Well, Vieira admitted he hopes to see Wilfried Zaha inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame one day.
The 45-year-old said: “The current players that I can see making it into the Hall of Fame would be Kevin De Bruyne for sure. I hope that Wilfried Zaha will make it one day, and Sadio Mané.”
Realistically, the Ivorian has a very long way to go until he can be mentioned in the same breath as players like Mohamed Salah and De Bruyne.
Nevertheless, it’s great to see Vieira mention one of his own at such a prestigious event – we can’t begin to imagine the confidence Zaha will gain from hearing these comments.
So far in his Premier League career, the 29-year-old has scored 58 Premier League goals, putting him above the likes of Gareth Bale, De Bruyne, Cesc Fabregas and Edin Dzeko.
If he blossoms into a prolific figure in his thirties, then who knows what honours Zaha could be awarded when he eventually retires.
Patrick Vieira is managing Wilfried Zaha well at Crystal Palace
In our view, Vieira is doing a fine job with Zaha at Selhurst Park.
The pair clearly have a strong relationship, as seen when the Ivory Coast international embraced the Frenchman after his goal against Norwich.
Vieira told the Crystal Palace official website that the way to motivate Zaha is to challenge him, and it seems to be working – even if the forward admitted it can be annoying.
The Crystal Palace No.11 has scored 12 goals this season, which makes it the best goalscoring campaign of his entire career.
Interestingly, the fact Zaha is trying to cut down his dribbling and become more efficient could also be a factor.
With a solid pre-season under his belt, as well as a year of experience under Vieira, next term could be a special one for Zaha.
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