Wilfried Zaha can ‘play for a much bigger club than Crystal Palace', says former boss Frank de Boer

Former Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer says Wilfried Zaha can ‘play for a much bigger club’ than Eagles – but should not leave the club this month.

Crystal Palace’s stance on Zaha could not be clearer. Both chief executive Steve Parish and joint-owner Josh Harris have insisted that the Ivorian will remain at the club, with the latter sharing that opinion with Standard Sport last week.

But De Boer, who was sacked by Palace having lost his opening four Premier League matches with the club – just 77 days into the job.

Palace failed to score in any of those matches, partly down to losing Zaha to injury in the opening day defeat to Huddersfield.

De Boer believes things would have gone differently had Zaha been available for selection.

Speaking to Omnisport, he said: "I was really a little bit unfortunate that he was injured in the first game.

"I missed him in the coming six games. He has a major impact for Crystal Palace because he can make something out of nothing.

Asked whether Zaha had the ability to play at a higher level, De Boer suggested that Liverpool would be a good match for the forward – albeit that he should stay at Selhurst Park for the foreseeable future.

"Not really right now, because he has to play every game, every week, I think that's important for him right now.

"He can play for a much bigger club than Crystal Palace, that's for sure, I'm 100 per cent convinced."

"Liverpool would be a great club for him, but I'm going to see what he does in the future. I'm very interested in him because I think he has a great potential."