Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says working with Wilfried Zaha was ‘difficult’ on a daily basis

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Viieira admits star forward Wilfried Zaha is hard work - even though he makes up for it with talent and drive.

The 29-year-old scored 14 Premier League goals last season as the Eagles came just a point short of their all time Premier League record points of 49 in Vieira’s first year as Palace boss.

Zaha has a total of 65 Premier League goals and 28 assists, making him one of the best players to have played for the south London based club.

This season, he’s bagged four of the nine goals scored so far in the Premier League and produced the assist for Eberechi Eze’s winner against Leeds United.

His overall impact and contribution to the club is far beyond goals and assists as he is the most tackled and most fouled Crystal Palace player in Premier League history.

His contract runs out this summer and the club’s priority is to see him continue at Selhurst- but with clubs like Chelsea, AS Roma and Arsenal all recently linked, there is no doubt Steve Parish will have to break the bank for him to stay.

His manager Patrick Vieira though is growing a special relationship with the player and was recently seen in a training videos attempting to playfully kick him.

Vieira says he was told Zaha was a handful before taking up the job-something he can confirm even though he’s also a big fan of the player’s talent and ambition.

The Crystal Palace boss said during the Best of Africa Awards in London: “When I arrived at Crystal Palace for a couple of months I heard a lot of stories about Wilfried and that he was difficult to work with and yes I can confirm he’s really difficult to work with.

“But he’s got something really special and that is he’s talented. He’s talented and he also loves football.

“I believe that people have the wrong impression of him, he’s a winner and he is a positive leader in the team and he pushes players to fight and to win.

“To be honest I’m quite happy and glad to work with him because he is a really good supporter.”

Zaha played the entire game as Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat Leeds United 2-1 in the Premier League, only their second win of the campaign.

They take on Leicester this weekend hoping to now put a winning run together and climb the Premier League table.