• Premier League

Solskjaer: Zaha can emulate Ronaldo

ESPN staff
February 3, 2014
Wilfried Zaha celebrates on his Cardiff debut with Craig Bellamy © Getty Images
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Cardiff City boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has stated new loan signing Wilfried Zaha is good enough to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United winger Zaha joined Cardiff until the end of the season on deadline day and was instrumental in the Bluebirds' 2-1 win over Norwich on Saturday.

"I don't really want to compare Wilfried with Cristiano, but he has quick feet like Cristiano, he is brave like Cristiano and wants to go forward," said Solskjaer.

"But he is young. He has got to make a decision about how good does he want to be and how he loves this game.

"Coming in here he just wants to play football and he's been bright as a button these last few days."

Since his £15 million switch to Old Trafford from Crystal Palace at the end of last season Zaha has struggled to feature for David Moyes' side.

And Solskjaer admits he can see why former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson invested heavily to originally bring Zaha to Old Trafford - but insists the youngster will have to work hard to live up to his new billing.

"He is one of the best I have seen with the ball," Solksjaer said. "He can grow up to become a proper player like Ronaldo if he wants.

"I have never seen anyone work as hard as Ronaldo. Before training, after training, he was an exceptionally dedicated man and proved to everyone what dedication gets you."

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