Crystal Palace ‘respond to Man United interest in Jean-Philippe Mateta’
Crystal Palace are hopeful that a “significant” asking price will ward off growing interest in Jean-Philippe Mateta from European clubs.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected in the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider that Oliver Glasner’s side are determined to keep hold of the 27-year-old.
As a result, they have slapped a £50million asking price on the striker who has attracted interest from Man United, Atletico Madrid, Aston Villa, Lyon and a number of other European sides.
This comes after Brown told Football Insider that Palace are prepared to “pull out all the stops” to keep the Frenchman at Selhurst Park beyond this season.
Come the summer, he will have just 12 months remaining on his contract which is set to run until 2026, leading to questions about his long-term future in South London.
Brown told Football Insider on 6 February that there are plans to hold sit-down talks with Mateta before the end of the season with a contract extension in mind.
Crystal Palace have no plans to let Jean-Philippe Mateta leave
Brown told Football Insider on 9 October that questions had been asked about Mateta’s wage demands, which were thought to be around £100,000 per week.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment after over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, explained that his performances this season have now made him “untouchable” at Palace.
“Mateta is having a great season for Palace,” he told Football Insider.
“I must admit I’d never quite been convinced he was as good as his form has now shown.
“From their point of view, he’s proven he can perform for them consistently and can keep up his performance levels over a period of time.
“He’s in the best for of his career, playing at a club where he’s very happy and everybody loves him, and playing for a manager who gets the best out of him.
“They don’t want to lose him, because where would they go to replace him?
“Where are they going to sign a player of that standard and how much is it going to cost them?
“No, their plans at the moment are to do whatever they can to keep him at Selhurst Park.
“Part of that will be setting a significant asking price which they hope will put clubs off of the move, which will probably be around £50million.
“As far as they’re concerned, he’s untouchable.”
Oliver Glasner keen to keep his Palace squad together
Glasner has been roundly praised for the job he has done at Crystal Palace since taking over from Roy Hodgson in the closing stages of the 2023-24 season.
As a result of that success, however, a number of the key players including Mateta, Marc Guehi and Daniel Munoz, have attracted high-profile interest in a potential summer move.
However, in similar fashion to Mateta, Football Insider revealed on 14 February that the Eagles have no interest in letting Munoz leave the club.
That comes amid interest from the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Barcelona in the 28-year-old wing-back who has become a vital part of Glasner’s side in South London.
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