Nottingham Forest are willing to pay £35m to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta from Crystal Palace and are reportedly prepared to offer the striker a significant pay rise.
Palace are willing to let Mateta go if his valuation of around £40m is met and they can sign a replacement.
Juventus and Aston Villa considered signing him, but decided not to because of the high asking price.
Mateta wants to leave Palace, but has not submitted a formal transfer request. The 28-year-old has entered the final 18 months of his contract with Palace.
Relations between Palace and Forest became strained in the summer when Forest replaced Palace in the Europa League. The two teams will face each other at the City Ground on Sunday, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Sunday, February 1st 1:55pm
Kickoff at 2pm
Palace are 15th in the Premier League, three points ahead of 17th-placed Forest.
Palace and Forest resume rivalry
There is further intrigue surrounding Forest’s approach to Mateta, given the relationship between the two clubs over the past year.
In June, Forest wrote to UEFA expressing concerns about Palace’s scheduled participation in the Europa League this season.
European football’s governing body subsequently determined that American businessman John Texter had control and influence over both Palace and Lyon in France as of March 1, and demoted Palace to the Conference League on July 11.
Palace failed in their appeal against their relegation to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Palace’s relegation to the Conference League resulted in Forest taking part in the Europa League.
This has led to a positive change in the spending plans of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who has rushed to sign James McAtee, Arnaud Calimundo, Douglas Luiz and Omari Hutchinson after Palace were relegated.
However, the situation was different for Palace, who subsequently sold Eberechi Eze and Marc Ngehi to Arsenal and Manchester City respectively. Although Palace have brought in Jeremy Pino and Brennan Johnson, losing Mateta, who was the backbone of Palace last season, will be another big blow.
Mr Morrison: Why is Mateta joining Forest?
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Former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison shares fans’ frustration with the club’s Premier League standings, talks about manager Oliver Glasner’s position and why he remains optimistic about the team’s season
Sky Sports’ Clinton Morrison appears on Premier League show:
“I like Nottingham Forest as a football club. But what’s strange about this to me is that Mateta says he wants to play Champions League football. Forest are not playing Champions League football this season because they can’t win the Europa League.”
“The other thing is, will he go to Forest and play right away? Igor Jesus is a great striker and he will be playing against him.
“Chris Wood is injured at the moment, but Mateta came in and Taiwo Awoniyi scored at the weekend. “We have Lorenzo Lucca on loan from Napoli, so we have four strikers. Only one plays up front.
“He’s the main striker and the only striker at Palace. Why not stay there and try to get into the France World Cup squad?”
“Get back in shape, because he’s not feeling well. Then Didier Deschamps will pick you for France’s World Cup squad. Then you’ll live everyone’s dream and your own. Then make your move in the summer.”
“I understand he’s at an age where he has to play while he’s hot, but I don’t understand him moving to a club lower than Crystal Palace.”
