Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer says he is planning to build his team around Wilfried Zaha.
The Ivorian international was among Palace’s outstanding performers last season, adding the end product his critics had always claimed he lacked as he provided seven goals and 11 assists in the Eagles’ successful battle against the drop.
That prompted renewed interest from the likes of Tottenham but Zaha committed his future to Palace by signing a new five-year contract at Selhurst Park.
With his 24-year-old star player tied down for the long-term De Boer, who replaced Sam Allardyce after the former England manager resigned having kept Palace up, plans to prioritise getting the best out of Zaha.
"That kind of player is the one you come to visit the stadium for," De Boer told the Times.
"He can make the difference. With the [Arjen] Robbens, [Lionel] Messis and [Cristiano] Ronaldos, you have to get those players in their best position so they can show their qualities.
"We want to try that with Zaha because he can be decisive. He's shown that already; he's still young, can still improve. So I'm very happy he's still at Palace. There are a lot of quality players at Palace."
De Boer has also spoken of his ambition to exploit Palace’s academy, where Zaha learnt his trade before a fruitless move to Manchester United, and invited young midfielder Luke Dreher to join the first-team for pre-season training.
