The England youth international is one of the most coveted young full-backs in world football, but appears to have no plans to leave the Eagles soon
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Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka has said he is happy at Crystal Palace, as speculation surrounding his future continues to grow.
The 21-year-old has been linked with moves to some of the world’s biggest clubs in recent months, including Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Therefore, it is incredible to think Wan-Bissaka only made his debut for the Eagles last season. Since then, he has enjoyed a rapid rise and is now one of the first names on the team sheet at Selhurst Park.
So important has Wan-Bissaka become to manager Roy Hodgson, the young full-back has only missed three Premier League games so far this campaign, all due to injury to suspension.
“It feels like I belong in this team and it feels like I’ve been here for years,” Wan-Bissaka told Sky Sports.
“My target is to play as much as I can and perform well. Once I was in, the aim was to stay in and progress from there.
“It is a bit weird [being in the first team after spending 10 years with the youth teams] but it was always a dream and now that dream has come true. I just want it to carry on and it means a lot to play for my local team.
“My aim is just to keep playing with Palace. I think it’s going well so far and I want to just complete this season because it will be my first.”
Wan-Bissaka was a winger until recent times and only began to operate in a more defensive role under former manager Frank de Boer.
“It started when De Boer took over,” he said. “The formation he played was with wing-backs, so the right winger would play wing-back, so you had to do both attacking and defending. That’s where my coaches saw my strengths in the position.
“I wasn’t really surprised, I just got used to it and then Roy came and changed it to a back four. My previous manager, Richard Shaw [Wan-Bissaka’s U23 coach], helped me progress into that right-back player.
“I started in the U21’s tackling a lot, it got noticed that I was quite good at it, but I didn’t realise it until I played in the right-back position.
“It’s more of an understanding with the tackles. I was a winger and you get a sense of where they’re going to go. Even if they don’t go that way, it’s advantage for me with the length of my legs and I’m still confident I’m going to get the ball.
“If I can get there I’ll do my best to get there I feel good, but when the chance comes to go forward I take them.”