Jean-Philippe Mateta informed Crystal Palace in January that he wanted to leave the club, amid interest from Aston Villa and Juventus.
The striker had wanted to leave Selhurst Park since last summer after a number of clubs tried to sign him but he failed to agree a new contract with Palace.
Juventus and Aston Villa were looking to sign him this month, but Juve, who were looking to sign him for an initial loan fee of just £1.7m (€2m), were no contenders at all.
Palace executive chairman Steve Parish is a notoriously tough negotiator and has always been reluctant to let players leave easily.
Palace still value Mateta at around £35m, even though he turns 29 in June and his contract expires in the summer of 2027. They are not keen on selling Mateta and as things stand, an exit is not forthcoming.
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Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol explains why Crystal Palace are unlikely to change their assessment of Mateta
Palace are hoping to strengthen their squad this month. They want to win the Conference League and finish as high as possible in the Premier League, but they have already sold captain Marc Guehi to Man City for £20 million during this period, and head coach Oliver Glasner has confirmed he will leave in the summer when his contract expires.
Villa are currently in the process of signing striker Tammy Abraham, who is currently on loan at Besiktas from Roma, but have also expressed an interest in Mateta.
Juventus have not completely given up hope of signing Mateta, but are also working on signing Youssef En-Nesyri from Fenerbahce as an alternative.
Manchester United had an interest in Mateta, driven by former head coach Ruben Amorim, who wanted a striker with Premier League experience.
As it stands, there is no expectation that United will sign a striker in this period after spending £200m on Brian Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesco in the summer. Their next priority is to sign a midfielder in the summer.
Mateta wants to play for a club in the Champions League
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Latest transfer information on Mateta, Abraham, Martinez and more!
Mateta would like to play for a club in the Champions League or one that has a good chance of playing in the competition next season.
He also hopes to play for France at this summer’s World Cup after being called up for the first time in October and scoring his first goal away against Iceland.
Palace rejected offers from Champions League clubs for Mateta in the summer, and there was also a late inquiry from Tottenham, but no bid was made before signing Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
In the summer, Italian clubs Atalanta, AC Milan, Juventus and several other Premier League clubs also expressed interest in Mateta, but a move never materialized.
Palace signed Mateta from Mainz in January 2021, initially on loan, in a deal worth around £15m.
He continues to establish himself as one of the top No. 9s in the Premier League, with only Erling Haaland (27) scoring more Premier League goals than Mateta (17) in 2025.
Since Glasner played his first Premier League game as Palace manager in February 2024, only Haaland and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah have scored more league goals than Mateta (35).
However, he has only scored once from open play in the past two-and-a-half months, in the 1-1 draw against Fulham on New Year’s Day.
Mateta scored 56 goals in 185 appearances for Palace, helping them win the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley in 2025.
He has started all 22 league games for Palace this season and has eight goals, plus two hits and two assists, in 10 cup games.
Last season, he scored 17 goals in 47 games as Palace won the FA Cup and qualified for European football for the first time.
The 28-year-old has three caps and two goals for France.
Where does Palace go from here?
Mateta’s contract with Crystal Palace expires at the end of next season.
David Richardson of Sky Sports:
First Ebereshi Ezeh, then Marc Guehi, now Oliver Glasner, who could soon be Jean-Philippe Mateta – Crystal Palace are losing their spine.
Just a few months after winning the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley, key figures from that glorious era are, or are, heading out.
Palace’s first major season in Europe has been overshadowed by events happening off the pitch. Supporters were always going to enjoy the Conference League adventure, but with it potentially taking a long time to return, they will have to enjoy it even more.
There is little threat of relegation at the moment, and although they are winless in their last seven games and 10 games in all competitions, they sit 11 points above the bottom three.
But if there is any silver lining for Palace’s future, it is that Brentford have shown how they can improve despite losing key players and head coach.
Palace have already invested some of the money from the sales of Eze and Guehi into signing Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson and will need to spend more to limit the damage caused by the loss of their big names.
Palace’s next six games
Sunday: Chelsea (H) – Live on Sky Sports
February 1: Nottingham Forest (A) – Live on Sky Sports
February 8: Brighton (A) – Live on Sky Sports
February 11: Burnley (H)
February 19: Zrinjski Mostar (A)
February 21: Wolves (H)
