As much as the first week or two of January was dominated by talk of Federico Chiesa potentially coming back to Turin during the winter transfer window, Juventus’ push to bring in a new striker has come to the fore over the last few days, if only being magnified by the Bianconeri’s struggles to score in their loss to Cagliari over the weekend.
That main target is a name you’re well familiar with by now: Jean-Philippe Mateta.
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So as Juventus push to try and get Mateta to Turin, it sounds like the player himself is certainly pushing an exit as well.
According to SportItalia’s Alfredo Pedulla, Mateta is very much inclined to leave Crystal Palace this month, with Juventus looking to be his top potential destination if that were to come to fruition. And when you consider everything going on at Palace right now — cornerstone player leaving, manager just about at his last straw with the current conditions at the club and past star players leaving in recent transfer windows — it’s easy to understand why Mateta wants to head out on a new adventure rather than continue in the current situation. Juventus are looking to take advantage of just that, but have been stonewalled by Crystal Palace thus far, with their first bid for Mateta — a six-month loan with an obligation to buy that is contingent on European qualification — being turned down in a relatively unsurprising development.
But the fact remains that, according to Pedulla, Mateta wants out — and that could prove to play into Juve’s hands regardless of the fact he is still very much playing for Palace despite the exit rumors.
This also means that Juventus will have to up their bid for Mateta, who Crystal Palace reportedly want upward of €40 million for if he were to leave during the winter transfer window. Juventus’ offer of a €2 million loan fee with an obligation to buy around €28 million is clearly well short of that hope. But when it comes to Mateta’s willingness to actually stay compared to his desire to leave, how much will that push him toward the exit door?
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Juventus clearly want a different profile at striker compared to the two healthy ones they currently have in Jonathan David and Loïs Openda. Juve manager Luciano Spalletti has reportedly given the green light to a move for Mateta, He is their top choice and the fact that they’re soon offering up another potential deal for him is further proof of that.
Who knows when it will actually get done this month, but closing on Mateta appears to be Juventus’ top priority entering the second half of January.
