Wilfried Zaha suggested he was initially surprised by how good of a defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka is - because the 21-year-old started out his youth career in a different position.
The England youngster was deployed as a winger from the day he joined Palace 10 years ago and it was not until the 2016-17 season, when he was called into a first-team training session to make up the numbers, that he played as a right-back.
On that occasion he was tasked with shackling the left winger Zaha and speaking last year Zaha discussed what it's like to face Wan-Bissaka in training.
"I was kind of shocked by how good he was when I played against him," Zaha said of the soon-to-be United right-back.
"I’ve played against a few decent right-backs, to be honest, and he’s one of them.
"You may go past him but he always manages to get a last-ditch tackle in.
"I don’t understand how you go from a winger to a right-back though, because he’s so good at defending, but I think that’s his natural position."
Zaha also had some encouraging words to say about Wan-Bissaka's personality, claiming he's easy to get on with and does his talking on the pitch.
"Unless you speak to him, he will not say a word," Zaha added. "Literally, he’s in the changing room quiet. But he does his speaking on the pitch, really. That’s why everyone likes him. He doesn’t chirp up much.
"He just comes in, does what he has to do, plays his game, plays well and goes home.
"The games he’s come in, the players he’s played against, I was kinda shocked because it’s just like, ‘oh, he’s playing against Sanchez today’.
"He just deals with it casually. I like his mentality. That’s how I am when I go on the pitch, no matter what kit you’re wearing, I will not fear your team because of what you’re wearing, I’ll play the same way. And that’s what I feel he does, he’ll take on whoever, he’ll tackle whoever, and that’s why I rate him as much as I do."
