Crystal Palace now working on deal to sign “impeccable” Mateta upgrade

Things are just going from bad to worse for Crystal Palace this season.

The South Londoners are 13th in the Premier League, crashed out of both domestic cup competitions, and have to play a play-off to reach the next round of the Conference League.

On top of that, they have also lost club captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City, and it now looks like Jean-Philippe Mateta could be on his way out as well.

The loss of the Frenchman could be a huge problem for Palace, but the good news is that they appear to have identified a replacement, someone who could even be an upgrade.

Crystal Palace target Mateta upgrade

As if losing Eberechi Eze in the summer and Guehi this month wasn’t bad enough, it now looks like there is a real chance Palace could also lose Mateta before the transfer window slams shut next week.

After all, while the club are understandably reluctant to let him go, and have made it clear that they want to keep him, the Frenchman’s camp have also made it very clear he wants to go, and he wants to go this month.

Now, losing the former Mainz star would undoubtedly be a big problem for the South Londoners, but the good news is that they already appear to have identified a potential replacement.

At least that is according to a recent report from journalist Duncan Castles, who claims that Palace are interested in Gonçalo Ramos.

In fact, Castles goes on to explain that alongside the Eagles, Aston Villa are also “working to extract” the striker from Paris Saint-Germain this month.

However, PSG are understandably reluctant to sell a striker themselves, so convincing them to do so could prove challenging.

Moreover, with no fee reported at this time, it’s entirely unclear just how much the Eagles would have to offer to get their man.

However, even if it proves to be a costly and complicated transfer, Palace should be all over it, as Ramos would be a dream Mateta replacement and possibly even an upgrade.

How Ramos compares to Mateta

Now, Mateta has been an incredible player for Palace over the last couple of seasons, and therefore replacing him in the starting lineup will be a tall task.

However, there is a good chance that Ramos could do just that, and possibly even exceed the Frenchman’s impact.

The first reason for this is the simple fact that he has proven himself to be an even more dangerous forward over the last couple of campaigns.

For example, in 46 appearances last season, totalling 1812 minutes, the Champions League-winning Portuguese international scored 19 goals and provided six assists.

That comes out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.84 games, or one every 72.48 minutes, which is an utterly world-class rate of return.

In contrast, the Eagles’ leading man scored 17 goals and provided four assists in as many appearances, but 3301 minutes.

Therefore, while he was effective, he maintained a far less impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.19 games, or every 157.19 minutes.

It’s a similar story this year, with the former Benfica star scoring ten goals and providing one assist in 28 appearances, totalling 1128 minutes, which is a goal involvement on average every 2.54 games, or every 102.54 minutes.

Mateta, on the other hand, has scored as many goals and provided one more assist in 33 appearances, totaling 2622 minutes, which is a goal involvement on average every 2.75 games, or every 218.5 minutes.

Now, while these numbers are reason enough for why the “impeccable” Olhão-born poacher, as dubbed by PSG coach Luis Enrique, might be an upgrade on the former Mainz man, there are more.

For example, the PSG star is now an established international, and even though he has to contend with Cristiano Ronaldo, he has scored ten goals and provided three assists in 22 senior caps.

Finally, at just 24 years old, he still has plenty of time left at the top of the game, and is arguably yet to hit his peak, which cannot really be said about the Frenchman, who is set to turn 29 in the summer.

Ultimately, while losing Mateta would be far from ideal, Palace could still come out of the situation stronger if they sign Ramos.

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