- Juventus and Nottingham Forest enter race for Mateta
- Why Palace should hold on
- Mateta’s best bet is to remain at Palace
Jean-Phillipe Mateta scored the winning goal for Crystal Palace in the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano last week. The striker almost left the club in January but failed his AC Milan medical due to a knee injury. Since then, Mateta scored seven goals, more than any of Milan’s striking options combined.
Whilst his redemption arc at Palace has been fun to see, the club now face a huge decision. Sell Mateta, or risk him running his contract down and leaving for free next Summer.
There are many factors contributing to the decision which will need to be made, and Mateta could make that decision even harder if he has a strong World Cup with France.
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Suitors circling Mateta
There have been continuous links with Mateta and a move away this Summer since his January move fell through, but the links are only gaining more momentum now the transfer window approaches, opening on Monday 15th June.
According to DeadlineDayLive on X, Juventus are heavily interested in Mateta’s services. The Old Lady are currently weighing up their options as they seek to replace Jonathan David, a player Palace have been linked with in the past.
Mateta is on their shortlist, along with Paris Saint-Germain striker Randal Kolo-Muani, who spent the season on loan with Tottenham Hotspur. Gazzetta dello Sport are the source for those links.
Elsewhere, Seb Ecrivain has reported that Nottingham Forest are also interested in a potential move for Mateta. He reports that Palace are struggling to make progress on a potential contract extension and that the club are ‘ready to hear offers for the 28-year-old.’
Should Mateta Leave?
In many ways, a Summer departure makes little sense for Mateta, or for Palace. Yes, the financial aspect could be appealing, and the only way that Palace make a profit on Mateta is by selling this Summer, they only outlayed £9.4 million on him in the first place.
That averages £154,000 per goal he’s scored for Palace, a genuinely superb return. In comparison, Palace are paying over £2 million per Eddie Nketiah goal so far.
Palace feels like Mateta’s level too. Juventus will be competing in the same European competition as the Eagles next season, and Forest will not be competing in European football whatsoever. The striker was Palace’s top scorer behind Ismailla Sarr and is still an extremely valuable asset to the team, as was seen in the Conference League final.
Palace should do whatever they can to convince Mateta to stay, and certainly shouldn’t be offering him up to clubs competing directly against Palace.
