Juventus are looking to make a big move for a striker in January — something we didn’t have on our bingo card a few days ago.
We’ve heard plenty about Juventus’ interest in bringing Federico Chiesa back to Turin during the winter transfer window. However, it looks as though Juve are doing some more shopping in the Premier League — and it also involves somebody who would be added to the attacking line.
According to multiple reports from the Italian press on Friday night, Juventus are in talks to try and sign Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta this month. As of a couple of days ago, that wasn’t really something that was even being discussed, but Damien Comolli and Co. appear to be moving to try and add a striker during the winter window — Mateta is their top target, with manager Luciano Spalletti having reportedly already given his blessing.
Juventus first proposal for Mateta is as follows, according to reports: loan with obligation to buy this coming summer. That is because, as Fabrizio Romano points out, that kind of formula is the only one that Juventus could do to make the deal happen this month due to the club’s current financial restrictions.
It’s gone as far as this: According to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira on Friday night, Juventus and Mateta’s camp have an agreement in principal on a four-year contract.
Sky Sports in England reported on Friday that Mateta — who will 29 years old in June — is “open to a new challenge” and that there is a genuine chance that he could leave Crystal Palace during the winter transfer window. It was earlier in the day that Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner announced that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season, while club captain Marc Guéhi is close to signing with Manchester City after failing to secure a move to Liverpool on the final day of the summer transfer window.
So, as you can probably guess, things are far from certain when it comes to things at Palace these days.
Mateta has shown to be a consistent goal scorer the last 2 1/2 seasons at Crystal Palace. During the 2023-24 season, he finished with 16 goals in 35 appearances (25 starts) in the Premier League, his highest total since the 2017-18 campaign when he burst onto the scene with Le Havre. This past season, he scored 14 goals in 37 appearances (33 starts) in the Premier League. So far this season, Mateta is tied for fifth in the Premier League with eight goals in 21 appearances, all of which are starts.
At 6-foot-4, Mateta is a very different profile than the two healthy strikers Juventus currently have available, Jonathan David and Loïs Openda. The line of thinking is that Juventus are accelerating this move for Mateta to try and get a target that they see as a Dusan Vlahovic replacement earlier than originally expected because the opportunity is there to make something happen this month.
Mateta’s current contract with Crystal Palace runs through 2027. He reportedly makes £2.6 million a season.
Category: General Sports
