Truth behind Jean-Philippe Mateta's failed AC Milan transfer revealed as medical issue 'spooks' Italian giants out of £30m move for Crystal Palace striker

Mateta appears to have grown disillusioned with life at Palace and was left out of the squad for their last game, a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, by manager Oliver Glasner. Speaking about the omission, the Austrian said: "It is nothing to do right now with the transfers. He is not in the [right] place. To play makes no sense. We have to protect the team and I have to protect him. That is why he will not travel with us to Nottingham."

It seemed that the Frenchman would get his desired move, with the two clubs agreeing a deal which saw Mateta have medical checks with AC Milan ahead of a potential switch. However, the Rossoneri uncovered an issue which made the transfer unappealing and subsequently pulled the plug.

According to BBC Sport, Palace disclosed the issues Mateta has had to deal with in recent years regarding his right knee during negotiations. The striker ruptured his meniscus in 2019 while playing for Mainz and underwent surgery that year, keeping him sidelined for six months.

Milan subsequently decided that, if they were to sign Mateta, he would need to go under the knife again to completely fix the issue, further reinforcing their reservations about the deal.

The news is a serious blow for Mateta. His excellent form for Palace last season helped him earn a maiden call-up to the France squad and he has done well when called upon by Les Bleus, scoring twice in his three appearances for his country. That start to his international career appeared to have greatly helped his chances of being included in Didier Deschamps' squad for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

However, Mateta now faces a dilemma. If he were to have surgery on his knee, it would rule him out of action for months, greatly hindering his selection chances against a number of excellent French attackers. Should he decide to opt against that choice, he still likely faces being the reserve striker in Croydon after Palace forked out around £48 million ($66m) to sign Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves in a club-record deal.

While Mateta has scored eight Premier League goals so far this season, only one of those has come in his 10 most recent appearances in the division, with the Eagles suffering a collapse in form over the past few months. His prospective replacement hasn't fared much better, with Larsen only scoring once for Wolves in 22 league games before departing Molineux.

Palace have endured something of a player exodus over the past few years, with key stars like Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi all moving to more established teams in the form of Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester City, respectively. They'll hope to avoid a harmful summer in the next transfer window, but it seems likely that Mateta will be one player who looks to move on after this January saga. Forest were previously credited with an interest, while Juventus were also thought to have been monitoring the situation.

While it has been a disappointing domestic campaign which also saw them fail in their FA Cup defence with a defeat to National League North side Macclesfield, there is still potential for it to be a memorable season for Palace. They finished 10th in the Conference League table to book a knockout round play-off with Zrinjski Mostar, who play in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the south Londoners will be hopeful of enjoying a long run in that competition.