OPINION: The Zaha era is over, and I refuse to be sad about how good it was

Wilfried Zaha is gone. The loan ran its course, the World Cup break arrived, and just like that one of the most talented players to ever pull on a Charlotte shirt said his goodbyes and walked out of the Queen City. I have seen a lot of fans online treating this like a funeral. I get it. I really do. But I want to make the case for something different. We should be celebrating.

Think about where this club was before he arrived. Charlotte was a team that needed an identity in the final third, a team that ranked near the bottom of the league for goals and that nobody outside of North Carolina was talking about. Then a genuine Premier League star, a Crystal Palace legend who terrorized defenders at Selhurst Park for the better part of a decade, chose to come here. Not to a glamour club in Europe. Here. Yes, you could argue that perhaps he has done what many seem to do, come to the end of their careers and see the big salary offers from certain teams in the MLS and never look back. But for a team like us, a new team, to bring in this calibre of player is something special. It shows the level of ambition for the club and gives a confidence boost for other players when they see stars like this putting the shirt on.

The numbers tell their own story. Across his time with the Crown, Zaha put up 13 goals and 14 assists in 44 regular season games, and he was a central reason this club made the playoffs and started believing it belonged. You can read his emotional farewell on the club’s official site, and if it does not get you a little misty then I do not know what to tell you. The man said Charlotte helped him fall in love with the game again. How often does a player of that pedigree say that about an MLS club barely four years old?

Yes, the timing stings. Losing your most dangerous attacker right as the season is about to restart after the World Cup is not ideal. I am not pretending otherwise. But this is the part of supporting a young club that I think we forget. We were never going to keep him forever. Galatasaray always held his rights, the loan always had an end date, and we always knew this day was coming.

So instead of mourning, I am choosing to be grateful. Zaha gave us screamers, gave us swagger, and gave this club a level of credibility it could not have bought any other way. The challenge now belongs to Dean Smith and the front office. They have to prove the club is bigger than one man. I think they can. But I will never forget the man who made us believe in the first place.

The MLS secondary transfer window, also referred to as the summer transfer window, opens on July 13th and will run until September 2nd. So fingers crossed we can pull something remarkable out the bag and keep challenging for those top spots in the MLS. You can follow the latest Charlotte FC transfer news right here.