Wilfried Zaha has hit back at his former teammate Jean-Philippe Mateta after the Crystal Palace striker claimed the Charlotte FC forward laughed at his international ambitions.
Mateta, who recently scored on his first international start for France, said that Zaha was one of a number of Palace players who scoffed at the newly-minted international when, early on in his Palace career, he outlined a desire to play for his country.
"At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I wasn't even playing, I spoke about the France team in the dressing room and I had teammates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing," Mateta told l'Équipe.
"They said that I was mad to think about the France team when I wasn't even playing at Crystal Palace, but I responded saying that it was my objective and that I simply had to play to show what I could do."
In response, Zaha took to social media to "clear up this Mateta situation." He labelled Mateta's comments as "disgusting," saying he "never hated on anyone."
"Everyone knows me, the only time on a pitch is when I'm passionate and all of that stuff but I never bullied someone or said someone won't make it here or won't make it at all or nothing like that." he said.
"It's disgusting when I see someone who I thought was a friend do that."
According to Zaha, he was singled out despite the exchange in question including other Palace teammates.
"The conversation that was had was his chances of playing for France way back when he wasn't playing for Palace and there were 10 players that he had this conversation with and as friends, we laughed it off but we were joking around, [saying] that it is going to be difficult, especially with Benzema all these different players playing in those positions," Zaha said.
"But we never ever once said 'you're never going to make it.'
"Why would he say my name when there was 10 people there? Is it just because Zaha is the biggest name?
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"I do not understand. It's disgusting. I've never hated on anyone. Now I'm getting messages: 'Oh you're not laughing now at Mateta.' I couldn't care less. Well done to him. I even congratulated him publicly on his Instagram.
"Like it's nasty man, it's nasty. This is why I don't have football friends, this is why I keep myself to myself, because how is he going to do that?"
Mateta, who joined Palace in January 2021, played alongside Zaha for two-and-a-half years before the latter left south London for Galatasaray.
The Ivory Coast international is on loan at Major League Soccer outfit Charlotte FC from the Turkish club.
Mateta has scored 40 Premier League goals for Palace since the start of the 2023-24 season, form which saw him make a France debut during the recent international window.