Revealed
WAN HECK OF A STORY
How confirmed Man Utd signing Wan-Bissaka went from shy kid who skipped training to the modern day Ashley Cole
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AARON WAN-BISSAKA gets a WhatsApp every few weeks from Crystal Palace academy coach Richard Shaw.
It is a simple and effective message: “Stay humble, keep learning, stay strong, you can relax when you retire.”
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Wan-Bissaka, the shy kid who fought his way through the Crystal Palace ranks, always sends a ‘thumbs-up’ emoji back to the man who shaped, guided and moulded his promising career.
He was a winger, a seven or 11 as they call them these days, when Shaw returned to Selhurst Park to coach a tough, boisterous, unruly bunch of under-16 footballers.
Wan-Bissaka, pictured arriving at The Lowry Hotel last night ahead of his £50million transfer after just 42 Premier League appearances, was one of them.
Palace knew he had the talent to be a star but as a young trainee he was easily led and distracted by stronger, powerful characters in the changing room.
A conversation with Shaw and Palace ambassador Mark Bright in the media suite at the club’s Beckenham training ground a couple of years ago changed his approach.
Wan-Bissaka had been playing truant, skipping a compulsory gym session to lark about with pals outside the training base.
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Shaw, who was made homeless as a kid, knew what it took to become a top-class player in the late 1980s with the Eagles.
He was hard-working, disciplined and tenacious, standing his ground in a dressing room that included Ian Wright, Andy Gray, Geoff Thomas and Bright.
Then there was Bright, a Barnados boy who understood what was required for Wan-Bissaka to force his way into the first team at a Premier League club.
They convinced him to conform, to listen to the advice of the coaching staff and to channel everything towards his career with the South London side.
In an era when everybody wants to claim credit for recruitment, development and talent-spotting, Kevin Keen’s role should not be underplayed.
It was Keen, who was first-team coach at Palace under Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce, who put him forward as a potential right-back.
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There were some at the club who had given up on Wan-Bissaka, frustrated by his failure to convert scoring chances or set them up from either wing.
The comparisons with Wilfried Zaha, another academy graduate, and Andros Townsend were frequent and uncharitable.
Keen liked Wan-Bissaka’s defensive qualities, his stubborn refusal to let his marker beat him, embarrass him, or show him up at any level.
United will benefit from those now.
The 21-year-old has learned quickly, overcoming the difficulties of adapting to a new position when he was converted to playing right-back.
His debut for the Under-23s against Charlton, when he was at fault for one of the goals, was put down to the learning process.
Shaw had been a right-back, a player of distinction after going on to play for the Eagles in the 1990 FA Cup final against Manchester United.
His diligent, dedicated performance in the 4-3 defeat to Liverpool is one of the most distinguished of any player in a Palace shirt.
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Crucially, after taking a job coaching the Palace kids, Shaw knew all the little life hacks promising young footballers use around the training ground.
Shaw had heard it all before — ‘bus broke down’, ‘train didn’t show up’, ‘mum couldn’t find a baby-sitter’ — when Wan-Bissaka started making excuses for tardiness.
It all started to come together after Keen’s intervention and then Wan-Bissaka’s first-team career really got going.
He famously kept Zaha quiet when he was thrown into his first training session with the seniors, even following him off the pitch when the winger went to take a swig of drink. Wan-Bissaka plays like the modern-day Ashley Cole.
In all 42 games in the Premier League, nobody at Palace can remember a winger getting the better of him over 90 minutes.
The England Under-21 is rarely beaten, with his speed and acceleration getting him out of holes whenever somebody finally manages to get past him.
This is a massive deal for Wan-Bissaka, leaving Palace with their blessing after United upped their bid to £45m plus £5m in various clauses.
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It is a triumph for chairman Steve Parish and his negotiating skills, along with Roy Hodgson and the impressive work of Shaw and another coach Dave Reddington during his development.
He is off to start a new career now, sharing a locker room at the Theatre of Dreams with Paul Pogba, David De Gea and Marcus Rashford.
When he gets there, he can expect another message.
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