In a recent report on Pateon, The Sun’s Alan Nixon mentioned that Everton wanted to sign Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta. It has been claimed that the Toffees were eager to get the French striker on board during the winter transfer window.
Mateta’s Difficult Campaign At Selhurst Park
Mateta is having a tough season at the London club as he has struggled to give a good account of himself for the Eagles in the final third. The 25-year-old has found the back of the net three times in 21 matches for Crystal Palace during this campaign across multiple competitions.
The Sevran-born talent has made most of his appearances off the bench which explains why he is only averaging 0.9 shots, 0.3 key passes and 0.1 dribbles per game in Premier League football. He has also been a bit untidy with his ball distribution after completing 73.1% of his attempted passes in the English first division (stats via whoscored).
Mateta’s current contract at the London club is set to run out in the summer of 2026. Thus, it won’t be easy for the Toffees to acquire his services, especially if they get relegated from the Premier League this season.
Should Everton Boss Sean Dyche Move In For Mateta Next Summer?
On his day, Mateta can be a real nuisance inside the opponent’s penalty box and can engineer some promising chances for others around him in the final third. He can also time his runs well in behind the opponent’s defence when he is playing regularly and with confidence on the pitch.
Standing at 1.92m, Mateta can be an ideal target man up top as he can hold possession up effectively for his side. However, the Frenchman is a player who is struggling to earn regular first-team starts for the Eagles. Hence, it is only logical for him to seek a move elsewhere in the summer.
We can expect Mateta to add some firepower to Sean Dyche‘s frontline. He could also offer some good competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park in the coming seasons.
However, Mateta is yet to prove his worth at the highest level and won’t be a solution to Everton‘s goal-scoring problems. Therefore, the Toffees should only move in for the French striker if they want to use him to bolster their match-day squad in the future. Otherwise, Dyche would be better off concentrating on landing a more proven goal-scorer in the summer.
