Report: Newcastle suffer blow in hunt for £13m man, thanks to Palace

According to the Evening Standard, Crystal Palace are now thinking about keeping Jean-Philippe Mateta, as Newcastle monitor the situation.

Well, after struggling to oust Christian Benteke and Odsonne Edouard from the pecking order, it looked like Mateta would be leaving Selhurst Park.

Le Progrès even revealed that Saint-Etienne were close to signing the Frenchman, with the Eagles due to cancel his loan spell from Mainz 05.

RMC Sport believe that Newcastle are interested in the 24-year-old, although their hopes of signing him have now suffered a blow.

The Evening Standard are claiming that Crystal Palace have been impressed with Mateta’s form in recent weeks.

It is said that Eagles Chairman Steve Parish personally met with the towering frontman at the Amex Stadium on Friday to congratulate him.

Mateta has scored two goals in his last four appearances, netting against Norwich as well as the winning strike against Millwall in the FA Cup.

According to Sky Sports, the south Londoners are obligated to buy the centre-forward for £13.4m if he starts 15 Premier League games.

While Mateta’s recent efforts have been impressive, we feel he isn’t the man to guide Newcastle to Premier League safety.

Before he netted his first goal of the season against Norwich on December 28th, Patrick Vieira didn’t fancy him one bit.

Mateta appeared against Watford on August 24th, before his next appearance came two months later against Newcastle on October 23rd.

He then had to wait another two months for his next outing against Tottenham on Boxing Day.

The Athletic also claimed that Mateta has failed to impress both Roy Hodgson and Vieira in training for Crystal Palace.

Newcastle need something special if they’re to stay in the Premier League this season – despite his recent upturn in form, Mateta is not the answer.

Report: Newcastle suffer blow in hunt for £13m man, thanks to Crystal Palace