Manchester United have reportedly been offered the chance to sign Crystal Palace and France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta before the transfer deadline.
Mateta has scored 62 goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions since joining Palace from Bundesliga outfit Mainz for a fee of £9million in 2022. The 29-year-old has become a central figure at Selhurst Park, helping the club win the FA Cup, the Europa Conference League and the Community Shield under former manager Oliver Glasner.
Transfer speculation and rejected bids
Mateta faced criticism from the fanbase after attempting to push through a move to AC Milan over the winter, a deal that collapsed after he failed a medical at the San Siro. Speculation has continued into the summer, with the France international rejecting several contract offers from Palace to pursue other opportunities.
According to talkSPORT's Alex Crook, Aston Villa have made an offer worth between £25-25million for Mateta as they look to replace Ollie Watkins. The bid was 'immediately rejected' as it was 'well short' of Palace's asking price for the 6ft 4in centre-forward.
United and Spurs interested
Crook claims United and Tottenham have been offered Mateta, with both clubs searching for last-minute attacking reinforcements before the transfer window closes on Tuesday. United have focused on bolstering their central midfield this summer, signing Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba from Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brighton respectively.
Spurs have added Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to their midfield, while also bringing in Savio, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senese, Andrew Robertson and Martin Dubravka. The north London club also signed Omar Marmoush on a season-long loan from Manchester City earlier this week.
Injury setback
Mateta suffered a hamstring injury in training prior to Palace's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Friday night and is expected to be sidelined for the next four weeks. 'He was injured two days before the game at the end of a session with individual work,' Palace manager Pierre Sage told the BBC. 'It was crazy but it's like this and we lost him maybe for four weeks at least.'
Asked if Ismaila Sarr and Mateta would still be Palace players at the end of the window, Sage replied: 'I hope so, in every situation we have to adapt. I'm not frustrated with this kind of situation because I understand the moment and all the managers have to deal with that – it's the same for everybody. We have to adapt and maybe sometimes you know an hour before the game that a player is sold so you have to let him out. Sometimes you have good news on Monday and maybe it will be like this.'
Mateta has just 12 months remaining on his current contract at Selhurst Park.
