By Neil Ashton
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When a player of immense promise appears on Arsene Wenger's radar, Arsenal's manager sends chief scout Steve Rowley to watch them in an away game.
It is a secret code at Arsenal, despatching his trusted talent-spotter to see if their target fancies it on a freezing cold day at a place like Leicester's King Power Stadium.
Arsenal are a little bit late to the party when it comes to Wilfried Zaha, only putting their marker down in the last few weeks with their constant presence at Crystal Palace matches. They have arrived at just the right time.
King of the Palace: Wilfried Zaha in focus against Leicester City
Zaha is electrifying, the most talented and gifted player that Palace supporters have ever seen.
Tough on Vince Hilaire.
Tougher on Ian Wright.
True all the same.
He has mesmerising qualities, skills reminiscent of Ronaldinho when he began playing for Gremio nearly 20 years ago.
Zaha is capable of anything, twisting and turning his way past opposition defences with his exceptional ability on the ball.
He has everything: pace, strength, ability and power, all the attributes required of a modern day footballer. For 70 minutes, until Leicester began a late rally, Zaha was unplayable.
Rowley, who was in the stands, left impressed.
Three weeks ago, Zaha went away with the England Under-21 team for their fiery play-off matches against Serbia in the Euro 2013 qualifiers.
The working environment raised his game, under pressure to perform in training alongside players who are regular starters in the Barclays Premier League.
At that level, the players are that much sharper and Zaha responded by smoothing over some of the rough edges to his game.
Rivals: Zaha is rated above the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain (left) and Walcott
He improved alongside Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Danny Rose, accepting the challenge of international competition.
It enhanced his game, returning to the Palace team for their Championship game against Millwall with an improvement in decision-making on the ball and superior game-intelligence.
Converting his ability to the Premier League is the next phase of his development, a target for a player regarded by all 24 Championship managers as the best in the division.
Six years ago, Theo Walcott wasn't even the best player in the Southampton team, but Arsenal signed a player based on future potential.
He was signed on the strength of 21 appearances and four goals, one of them an outrageous strike against Luton Town at St Mary's.
Walcott was only 16 when he signed for Arsenal and his profile exceeded his performances on the field when he Sven Goran Eriksson took him to the 2006 World Cup.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another Championship recruit, signed by Arsenal in the summer of 2011 after one successful season in League One.
His biggest test that season was against Manchester United in the FA Cup, a Saturday night game at St Mary's.
He wore colourful boots that night and barely got a kick. After the game his manager Nigel Adkins reminded his 17-year-old winger that there was plenty of work to be done before he became a Premier League player.
Star in the making: Zaha could soon be knocking on the England door
Two years on he is showing signs that he will eventually belong, making 16 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League last season and a handful this year.
Neither Walcott or Oxlade-Chamberlain possess Zaha's ability and it is only a question of time before he is playing at the highest level.
Walcott barely played half a season for Southampton after graduating from their academy before he was sold to Arsenal for 12million.
Oxlade-Chamberlain played 36 League One games during Southampton's promotion season and left for the Emirates in 2011.
At 19, Zaha has already played 96 times for Palace in the league and made a handful of appearances in Cup competition, including their victory at Old Trafford last season.
He still has four years left on his contract at Palace, but Arsenal will be ahead of the game when he eventually decides to leave.
Zaha, who grew up in south London and came through the Palace academy, is an Arsenal supporter.
That may well be a factor in the final decision for Zaha, but first the clubs courting him will have to convince Palace to part with their prize asset.
another "star" of the future ....like walcott was suposed to be
- bell boy , void, 31/10/2012 01:58
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