Wilfried Zaha believes the redeveloped Crystal Palace academy is a world-class facility that can stand with other top academies across the globe.
Zaha, who rose through the youth ranks at Selhurst Park, was in attendance as the Eagles opened their academy to the public after undergoing major development works that cost around £20 million.
On Thursday, England manager Gareth Southgate declared the new-look academy in South London open by cutting the ribbon alongside club chairman Steve Parish.
Zaha joined Crystal Palace academy at the age of 11 in 2004 and he went on to make his first-team debut six years later in an EFL Championship loss to Cardiff City.
The Ivorian winger has established himself as a key player in Patrick Vieira’s team and he compared the newly-commissioned facility with what he had while growing up.
“It was nothing like this. We didn’t have pitches like this at all and the standard wasn’t this high,” Zaha told the club’s website.
“Now you can actually compete with the other elite clubs because it’s all the players back in the day when you go to Arsenal and Tottenham and Manchester it’s cool because you have all these facilities.
“But now I feel like Palace have one of the best academies in recruitment and stuff and now they have the facilities to go with it. It’s a different class now.
“I’ll be honest, when you’re young the places you train at and the facilities make a massive difference because when you come you want to feel special. I feel like players coming here now have the wow factor and that will drive them into wanting to be part of everything here.
“Academy football I enjoyed. It only got difficult when you get to Under-18s, Under-21s or Reserves because those are the moments where it’s make or break: either you make it to first-team and Reserves or you don’t.
"During that whole period of the Academy I enjoyed it because with Palace there was such togetherness and that sums up Palace, that whole family vibe. I enjoyed my Academy periods, all of them.”
On Saturday, Zaha will be looking to inspire Crystal Palace back to winning ways when they visit Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Eagles have drawn their last four league matches, and their last win dates back to their 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on September 11.