Crystal Palace is home to perhaps one of the most underrated academy programs in England – throughout their history, many players have come through the ranks at The Eagles.
Whether it be players like Kenny Sansom, who was capped over 80 times for England, or current national team boss Gareth Southgate, the production line has an impressive list of alumni.
In recent years, it has produced Premier League winners such as Victor Moses and other players who have had lengthy careers in the top flight such as Nathaniel Clyne and Wayne Routledge.
Wilfried Zaha is perhaps the most notable name to have emerged from Palace.
His love affair with the club saw him feature during three different spells, two permanent and one loan. It seemed certain that bigger clubs would come calling, but no matter what the Ivorian stuck around at Selhurst Park until last summer when he moved to Galatasaray.
Tyrick Mitchell is another who is currently plying his trade at the club having successfully graduated from the youth set-up.
The left-sided full-back has already made over 100 appearances for the club at just 24. In 2022, he was named the club's young player of the season, emphasising his success in senior football.
Interestingly, Mitchell's journey to first-team football at Palace is reminiscent of another success story that happened only a couple of years before his arrival.
A fullback, known for his defensive prowess who stole a position in the team and never looked back. Plaudits followed and the future looked bright.
The man in question, is of course, Aaron Wan-Bissaka. But, has Wan-Bissaka fulfilled the promise he showed in his early days at Selhurst Park?
When did Wan-Bissaka make his Crystal Palace debut?
After being part of the foundations of the club since he was 11-years-old, Wan-Bissaka made his debut in 2018 as Palace took on Tottenham.
He made a good impression on his debut, making seven tackles as well as 4 interceptions and clearances apiece. These skills are what ultimately he would make a living doing.
Despite how natural it seemed the defensive side of the game came to Englishman, it may shock you to find out that he actually came through the academy as a winger. Despite this, his coaches could see the talent he had for defending.
Former Palace academy coach Richard Shaw spoke of Wan-Bissaka's capabilities, stating "It was always something you thought about with Aaron, because he was so disciplined defensively.
"He had a defensive mindset. He also had these long legs and made good recovery runs, so the ability to make the change was there."
It wasn't all plain sailing though, as when Wan-Bissaka was first deployed as a fullback in a youth team game, he didn't make the greatest impression. Shaw explained "he was leaving big gaps and watching him try to head the ball defensively was quite funny, in terms of the height and distance he got on it.
"After the game, myself and Dave [U23 manager] had a chat and decided 'come on, this is a project, let's work with him'."
The decision eventually paid off. Wan-Bissaka was eventually called up to train with the first-team squad and was tasked with marking the best player at the club, Wilfried Zaha.
The winger recalls the battles the two shared fondly, despite how frustrated he would find himself on the pitch.
"I was kind of shocked by how good he was when I played against him," Zaha said of his teammate. "You may go past him, but he always manages to get a last-ditch tackle in."
The defender's long legs were imperative for his ability to make those last-ditch tackles and earned him the nickname 'the spider.'
He continued to impress as he stepped into the first team, and it was only a matter of time before some of the country's top clubs became interested.
In 2019, Wan-Bissaka left Crystal Palace to join Manchester United for a whopping £50m.
It was a tough decision for the club to make, but the money was used to help fund new training facilities in order to produce more talents like the defender.
He was now moving up north with eyes firmly focused on whether he would be a success at Old Trafford.
How's Wan-Bissaka's United career gone so far?
Since joining in 2019, Wan-Bissaka has made 164 appearances for the club, scoring twice and assisting twelve times, per Transfermarkt.
Upon his arrival, Wan-Bissaka immediately became Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first choice right back. He impressed with his solid defending, with talent scout Jacek Kulig exclaiming that he had evolved from being a winger to "a real monster in defence."
His battles with local rivals Man City and in particular Raheem Sterling garnered nationwide attention.
Ahead of a tussle between the two Manchester giants, Sky Sports dedicated a piece about the head-to-head battle between Sterling and Wan-Bissaka. They analysed each time the pair had been matched up against each other.
They declared Wan-Bissaka the victor of their ongoing war.
As time went on, Wan-Bissaka was being lauded for his ability in one-on-one situations, with pundit Jamie Carragher calling him "The best one-on-one defender in world football."
The stats were there to back it up. Squawka revealed that since 2017, Wan-Bissaka has a higher tackle success rate than any other defender to attempt 100+ tackles. Of the 571 attempts he has made, United's number 29 has been successful with an astonishing 449.
Despite that, his attacking game is where he has been seen as being at his weakest.
In a world where modern fullbacks needed to influence the attack as much of the defence, Wan-Bissaka was perceived as being a step behind. And not just a step behind the best full-backs in the world, but also a step behind his teammates.
When Ralf Rangnick joined Manchester United following Solskjaer's sacking, WanBissaka fell down the pecking order, with Diogo Dalot becoming the new first choice.
In fact, Rangnick went as far as to tell the club's hierarchy that the full-back "was not good enough to be playing for the club."
It seemed to be the beginning of the end, with a move back to Crystal Palace being touted.
When Erik ten Hag arrived at the helm, it got no better for the defender. In fact, he did not play a single game ahead of the 2022 World Cup in November.
However, after the tournament, the fullback was able to receive more opportunities and did enough to convince his new manager he might just be part of his project.
He ended up making 34 appearances post-World Cup. He played an important role in securing the club's first trophy in 6 years as he was a half-time substitute tasked with shutting down Allan Saint Maximin as United won the EFL cup against Newcastle.
He has so far started every single Premier League game this season, managing to find himself as the first choice right back again for the Red Devils.
Has Wan-Bissaka ever played international football?
Despite impressing at different stages of his career, the defender has yet to receive a full international cap for his country.
The right-back has made three appearances for England's U21 side, but has yet to progress any higher than that.
The United man finds himself in a very unfortunate position as he plies his trade in one of England's most stacked area of the field – currently, Kyle Walker, Reece James, Trent Alexander Arnold and Kieran Trippier are all ahead of him.
When asked in 2020 why he had not given Wan-Bissaka a chance, England boss Gareth Southgate indicated that the 25-year-old's struggles going forward in comparison to his compatriots played a big role.
He stated:
"Aaron is a very good defender, one against one he's probably as good as I have seen, but I have to look at the balance of the team and currently there are players ahead of him."
How fair is this criticism?
Well, one Reddit user compiled a list of statistics comparing Wan-Bissaka to his Liverpool and Chelsea counterparts, and it became clear that the pair were ahead of him in an attacking sense.
At the time of the post, Wan-Bissaka averaged 0.8 key passes a game in comparison to Arnold's 2.3 and James' 1. He also only put in 0.4 crosses per game with Trent managing a whopping 2.1 and James managing 1.1
Despite this post being made in 2020, it is clear the 6-foot defender has not done enough to prove to Southgate he deserves an opportunity.
The defender has been rumoured to be interested in switching international allegiances, with DR Congo being interested in his services.
How much is Wan-Bissaka worth now?
Although his transfer value currently stands at just €14.7m (£12.6m), per FootballTransfers – a whopping 74% decrease on his exit fee – Wan-Bissaka has seemingly forced himself back from obscurity and into United's strongest eleven.
With Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia both out on the left-hand side, it seems the Croydon-born dynamo will be holding down the right-back slot as Diogo Dalot deputises on the left.
Despite it seeming that Ten Hag had no plans for the Palace academy graduate, he has been impressed enough to seemingly be willing to offer Wan-Bissaka a new contract at the club.
Either way, given the evidence above, it appears that the Eagles struck gold with their sale of the former Selhurst Park gem
