In a summer which has seen Crystal Palace battle to keep star players, now interest is growing in another key name.
For Crystal Palace, this summer is as much about departures as it is about arrivals. But due to the rampant form of Oliver Glasner’s team last season, interest is much higher than the club would like.
Already, this has seen Michael Olise exit the club and there could yet be further outgoings with rumoured interest in Ebere Eze and Marc Guehi still high.
However, now there are links for yet another of Glasner’s star players to potentially be departing the club this summer.
Here’s what we know so far…
Roma eyeing up Jean-Philippe Mateta
After already losing Olise, and now there’s interest arriving from Europe for Jean-Philippe Mateta as Roma views him as a budget option to replace Romelu Lukaku this summer.
This comes according to the Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport which reports that Mateta is seen as the perfect cheap alternative to Lukaku.
The Frenchman is four years the junior of Lukaku and the pair share several qualities, all fitting into Daniele De Rossi’s desires for a centre-forward with Mateta probably better on the ball.
Mateta would cost a third of the salary demands Lukaku, while the report says he’d only cost in the region of £18.5m to tempt Palace this summer – although this fee feels a little low.
After the impact Mateta had last season under Glasner, it’s no surprise at all to see him attracting interest – with Napoli also keen at one point this summer. The Eagles must avoid selling at all costs for such a low fee.
Palace should resist selling Mateta
Despite interest arriving, it’s hard to imagine Palace rejecting such a small fee for the striker after he scored nine goals in the final six games of last season.
Mateta cost the club £9m and looked like a flop for years until Glasner arrived and turned him into a goal-scoring machine.
Now, he’s at the Olympics with France, something which shows how quickly he rose and became a recognised bagsman.
Assuming his form wasn’t just a purple patch, the Eagles should not sell Mateta to Roma for the reported fee.
