Crystal Palace open contract talks with Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace have initiated contract negotiations with striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, according to BBC Sport.
The 27-year-old Frenchman, whose current deal runs until June 2027 following a recent 12-month extension, has been linked with a move to Manchester United and Olympique Marseille this summer.
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Mateta enjoyed a standout 2024–25 season, netting 17 goals and playing a pivotal role in Palace's historic FA Cup triumph—the club's first trophy in just over three decades.
With Palace set to compete in the UEFA Europa League next season as a result of the aforementioned cup triumph, the Eagles are looking to tie down their first-choice striker.
Palace are aiming to build a competitive squad capable of maintaining momentum next season, and keeping Mateta is central to that plan.
Talks between the club and the player's representatives are believed to be progressing positively despite Mateta reportedly seeking a salary bump to around £90,000 per week, which would put him on par with Palace's highest earners.
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Mateta's journey at Palace has been far from straightforward. Initially signed on loan from Mainz in January 2021, his early time in South London was marked by inconsistent performances and limited minutes under former managers.
Since Oliver Glasner's appointment in February 2024, the Frenchman has flourished, thriving under a more structured and attack-minded approach.
With a strong physical presence, sharp positioning, and vastly improved finishing, Mateta has become almost indispensable for Palace.
His partnership with Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr has been key to the team's attacking identity.
However, Mateta ended the last campaign without a goal in any of his last six games across all competitions and will be keen to get back on the scoresheet in Palace's pre-season tour.
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It is an equal split of Premier League 2 (under-21) and (fifth-tier) National League sides in a group-stage-then-knockouts format akin to the EFL Trophy, the latter a tournament in which the under-21 sides of some Category One clubs face first-teams from Leagues One and Two. There are two areas where Saunders accepts that more progress can be made. First, how clubs poach young talent from others, before players even turn professional, in cut-price deals, which he says will 'always be a challenge to manage'. Brexit has had an impact on that. Saunders says, 'Previously, our clubs used to be able to recruit players from Europe from age 16. We (the Premier League) and the clubs felt that was a really positive addition. Maybe one or two in every age group of the best players from France or Portugal helped to make the best of our young players even better. That has been taken away, so naturally clubs' recruitment pool has shrunk to look domestically.' 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They have data to benchmark physical averages for each chronological age-group position — and how that differs for a Category 1 academy player compared to Category 3. 'Suddenly you put him (a late physical developer) in an environment with boys that are of a similar physical stature and coaches get a really different perspective,' Saunders explains. Saunders is passionate about the positive impact academies can — and mostly do — have on all players, rather than success or failure being based on whether they earn a professional contract or reach the Premier League. 'There's probably been an external perception that academies are great for those players that go through and play in the first teams, 'But what about the sacrifices that other boys make?' We've always promoted holistic development,' he says. He is particularly proud of how education has improved under the EPPP (an often-overlooked part of its off-field work). 'Young players are now achieving above the national average in GCSEs (exams UK schoolchildren sit around age 16), and we have more players going on to do A-levels than ever before. We're working with universities to provide scholarships,' he says. Tom Smith, a former Arsenal academy goalkeeper now at League Two club Colchester United, is a shining example of education balanced with a playing career. Now 23, Smith graduated last year with a first-class degree in economics and management from the London School of Economics. Scholar of the Year: Myles Lewis-Skelly Academy Graduate Award: Tom Smith The duo were recognised at the recent Premier League Youth Development Awards 🏆 — Arsenal Academy (@ArsenalAcademy) May 21, 2025 That achievement earned him the off-pitch Academy Graduate of the Year Award for 2024-25 at the Wembley event, recognition of his personal development. 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Saunders points out that, in the Euros final against Spain last July, Saka was playing in a front four with Kane (the German Bundesliga's 2023-24 top scorer), Jude Bellingham (2023-24 player of the year in Spain's La Liga) and Phil Foden (who won the same honour in the Premier League that season): 'All of them have in common that they're English and they've come through our academy system — each of them taking ownership of their pathway.' Saunders and pathways. He is wonderfully relentless, and, just once, lets himself revel in 15 years of success in developing the next generation. 'There was a time,' he recalls, 'when people said, 'We're not tactically or technically at the level of our European counterparts', to the point now where we say, 'We've got so many amazing No 10s — how do we fit them into the national team?'' (Top photos: Brennan Johnson, left, and Liam Delap; Getty Images)
