‘Something happened within Crystal Palace’ to block Jean-Philippe Mateta deal
AC Milan may have had other reasons to reject signing Jean-Philippe Mateta other than the striker’s injury problems.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, after Mateta’s £30million move from Crystal Palace to AC Milan did not go through.
AC Milan had reservations over signing Mateta due to a knee injury, with the 28-year-old now remaining at Selhurst Park for the rest of the season.
Crystal Palace signed striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves, who was brought in as a replacement for Mateta, with the club having been expected to lose the Frenchman.
AC Milan didn’t have ‘serious concerns’ over Jean-Philippe Mateta
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Mateta’s injury problems would not have been the sole reason behind the deal collapsing.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks AC Milan could have signed Mateta.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “With Mateta, I have got a feeling that this is more about something else happening rather than using, it was more about using the medical, they had a sort of defensible position to turn the whole deal down rather than actually having really serious concerns.
“I think they could have taken him. I’ve taken players twice despite having those sort of issues, so I’ve also had experience of dealing with telephone teams, and I’ve got to say it’s not been pleasant that getting the truth, or should we say honest forthright dealing with Italian teams to put a nice way to say what I really want to say about the discussions that I’ve had with some of them and the way they’ve dealt in in transfer negotiations.
“However, I think Mateta, as I say, I think that they played the game a little bit. I think this was more political and something else had happened somewhere else within the club. So I don’t believe it. And I think that Palace were actually hard done by.
“Now that also then affected in terms of domino effect, Dwight McNeil, as we mentioned earlier. So it’s difficult, but as I say, big question mark about the behaviour of Italian teams and please, beware when you’re dealing with them, from my own experience.”
Mateta future remains in doubt
It remains to be seen whether Mateta will play for Crystal Palace again, with the striker not in the squad that drew with Nottingham Forest last time out.
Manager Oliver Glasner will now have Strand Larsen to select for the trip to Brighton next, with the Eagles still needing points to secure their Premier League status next season.
Crystal Palace sit nine points above the bottom three, but Glasner’s side are currently on a nine-game winless run in the Premier League.