Man Utd preparing for Jean-Philippe Mateta move with Crystal Palace striker's future uncertain

Per Sky Sports, United are looking into the signing of Mateta from Palace, and have a long-standing interest in the France international. United are not minded to buy a striker in January, but they will attempt to pursue the Palace man if he becomes available. Mateta's contract expires next summer and talks over an extension to that deal have stalled. Sky claim that Palace rejected bids worth up to £50 million ($67m) but it is unclear if that asking price has dropped since.

His future may well be linked to that of Oliver Glasner, who has also yet to commit his future to Palace, and reports suggest he could leave at the end of the season. In the meantime, the club have agreed a deal to sign Brennan Johnson from Tottenham to bolster their attack, and potentially provide Mateta with more help up front. 

Mateta has enjoyed an excellent season thus far and has scored eight goals for Palace in 19 starts; last season, the centre-forward scored 17 goals in 46 games, and netted 19 goals in 39 games in 2023-24. He has previously said that he wants to play in the Champions League, and it remains to be seen if Palace would be willing to sell the player mid-season. The report suggests that United are keeping a watchful eye and there is also reportedly interest from Tottenham, who eventually signed Randal Kolo Muani on loan. 

Speaking about his desire to play in Europe, Mateta said: "It’s natural, every ambitious player wants to reach that milestone. Especially when you arrive in the national team and around you, there are only players who play in the Champions League, who win the biggest trophies.

"When you play surrounded by the best players in the world, naturally, you want to reach that milestone."

He has won three caps for France, and Didier Deschamps said of him: "So this is a big moment for him. Let him come with his enthusiasm and his qualities. He knows most of the players because he’s seen (them) in the younger teams too.

"It’s not about winning me over. That’s not how it works. (He has to prove himself) in the team, in training, and during matches."

Sky report United are mainly eyeing a defensive midfielder but would like to do that deal in the summer. Amorim has spoken about his desire to only bring in a "perfect" player this month, if the Red Devils are to do business.

He said: "The only thing that we will try to bring now – and in the end of the season – are players that are perfect for our future,” Amorim said ahead of United’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

"It's not going to be to save something in this moment, to cope with the losses of three players for AFCON. It’s not going to be like that. Even if we try to bring one player, maybe it's not the position that we need more. So I don't know what is going to happen, but it's possible that we can do something.

"I’m just focused on the next game. Let's go step by step. We have a big match. We need to win. We need to try to find different ways of playing, especially without Amad and Bryan (Mbeumo). We lost some characteristics that are hard to find."

United play Leeds on Sunday and will aim to get three more points on the board. They currently sit sixth in the Premier League table, just three points behind Liverpool in fourth.