Man United urged to sign Complete crystal Palace striker as Rasmus Hojlund replacement as club set price for the star

Man United urged to sign Complete crystal Palace striker as Rasmus Hojlund replacement as club set price for the star

Barcelona and a number of Premier League teams have Jean-Philippe Mateta on their radar, but they will need to shell out a lot of cash to acquire the Crystal Palace player.

Over the last 12 months, Mateta has experienced a remarkable metamorphosis, emerging as one of the world’s most prolific strikers.

Oliver Glasner, 27, has made 41 appearances since joining Selhurst Park and has scored 26 goals, including six in his previous five Premier League games. According to the Sun, Lyon is interested in the Frenchman.

This would be contentious because John Textor, the owner of the Ligue 1 team, also has the largest stake in Palace. Mateta might be eligible to participate in European competition with Lyon.

The Eagles did recently trigger the option to extend Mateta’s current deal, which now runs until 2027, but if they were to sell this summer they would reportedly want at least £50million.

While they would stand to make a significant profit after signing Mateta for just £9m from Mainz in 2022, Palace have no interest in letting their talisman leave, with Glasner already bracing himself for the departure of another key player in Marc Guehi.

Tottenham had a £70m bid for the England centre-back rejected in January but he will almost certainly leave Selhurst Park this summer with his contract expiring in 2026.

As for Mateta, it is no known which Premier League clubs are interested but it was recently suggested that Manchester United should sign him after he scored a brace in Palace’s 2-0 win at Old Trafford.

‘Man United should get Mateta, that’s what they need,’ ex-Arsenal and England winger Paul Merson told Sky Sports.

‘He’s a strong lad up front, playing at the top of his game, he leads the line, scoring goals now. He runs and works his socks off harder than anyone you know

‘He’s 100 times better than anyone Man Utd have in the front line. Not Amad, he’s a young kid – but he’s much better than Hojlund and Zirkzee at the moment.’

Mateta will have another chance to impress when Palace travel to Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup fourth round on Monday