Man Utd offered chance to sign wantaway Premier League striker | Football

Manchester United have reportedly been offered the chance to sign Crystal Palace and France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta before the transfer deadline.

Mateta has racked up 62 goals and 14 assists in all competitions since joining Palace from Bundesliga outfit Mainz for a fee of just £9million back in 2022.

In that time, the 29-year-old has established himself as a central figure at Selhurst Park while helping the club win the FA Cup, the Europa Conference League and the Community Shield under previous manager Oliver Glasner.

However, Mateta faced heavy criticism from the fanbase after trying to push through a move to AC Milan over the winter – which ultimately collapsed after he failed a medical at the San Siro.

The speculation surrounding Mateta’s future has continued into this summer, too, with the France international rejecting several contract offers from Palace in order to pursue a possible opportunity elsewhere.

According to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, Aston Villa are the latest team to make an offer – worth between £25-25million – for Mateta as they look to tie down a replacement for Ollie Watkins.

However, it’s claimed the bid was ‘immediately rejected’ as it was ‘well short’ of Palace’s asking price for the 6 ft 4 in centre-forward.

Crook claims United and Tottenham have been offered Mateta, with both clubs scouring the market for last-minute attacking reinforcements before the transfer window slams shut on Tuesday.

United have focussed their attentions on bolstering their options in central midfield this summer, signing Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba from Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brighton respectively.

Spurs, meanwhile, have added Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes to their ranks in the middle of the mark, while also bringing in Savio, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senese, Andrew Robertson and Martin Dubravka.

The north London outfit also signed Omar Marmoush on a season-long loan from Manchester City earlier this week.

Mateta suffered a hamstring injury in training prior to Palace’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Friday night and is expected to be sidelined for the next four weeks.

‘He was injured two days before the game at the end of a session with individual work,’ Palace manager Pierre Sage told the BBC when asked about the Frenchman absence.

‘It was crazy but it’s like this and we lost him maybe for four weeks at least.’

Asked if Ismaila Sarr and Mateta would still be Palace players at the end of the window, Sage replied: ‘I hope so, in every situation we have to adapt.

‘I’m not frustrated with this kind of situation because I understand the moment and all the managers have to deal with that – it’s the same for everybody.

‘We have to adapt and maybe sometimes you know an hour before the game that a player is sold so you have to let him out.

‘Sometimes you have good news on Monday and maybe it will be like this.’

Mateta has just 12 months remaining on his current contract at Selhurst Park.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

MORE: Chelsea star Joao Pedro slammed for ‘ungrateful’ act during Brighton win

MORE: Gary Neville makes bold Arsenal title claim after Man Utd victory

MORE: Rio Ferdinand claims £57m Man Utd star is ‘the best in the world’ after Ipswich win