Jean Philippe Mateta celebrates with his Crystal Palace teammates. (Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Crystal Palace had a busy summer, during which they were able to avoid losing only one player, Ebebeki Ez, who joined Arsenal. Mark Guech, Adam Wharton and Jean Philippe Mateta are still in Selhurst Park, but they may not be in 12 months.
Guehi is scheduled to leave next summer when his contract expires, and Wharton has been attracting strong interest from people like Liverpool and Real Madrid. And in the case of Mateta, he could also leave.
Crystal Palace offers a new contract for Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace wants to ensure their star strikers stay amid interest from Aston Villa and Newcastle. And, as Mick Brown revealed to football insiders, they want to ensure his continuity by agreeing to a new contract with him.
“We know how important Mateta is to Crystal Palace. He leads their line very well, lifts the ball, takes his teammates into the game and scores quite a few goals for them.
“It looks like they’re losing Eze and at some stage they’re losing Gehi, but they can’t afford to keep their best players leaving. The strength of Crystal Palace was the team’s spine.
“You can lose one, you can deal with it. If you get the right replacement, you can even lose two. You start losing three or four and have real issues. So it’s not surprising that you turned down the offer of mateta over the summer, especially late in the window.
“They want to give him a new contract. It’s fair to say he’s probably worth it. That’s something they have to do urgently. Make sure he’s tied up and make sure there’s no doubt about his future as they can’t afford to lose him.”
It remains to be seen whether Mateta is willing to sign a new deal with Crystal Palace, but it will not be surprising if his decision will affect how this season goes.