Milan still keen on Mateta as Crystal Palace star’s desire emerges

Jean-Philippe Mateta is reportedly tempted to move to Italy, and Milan remain interested in the Crystal Palace forward.

Milan are the Serie A leaders after 13 rounds, level on 28 points with Napoli, still most of the accurate soccer prediction sites place the Rossoneri among the underdogs in the race for the Scudetto, with Inter and defending champions Napoli seen as the favourites for the title.

Despite their excellent results so far, Milan will likely be looking for a new centre-forward in the January window as Santiago Gimenez has failed to match expectations and hasn’t yet scored a goal in Serie A this season.

The Mexico international has been out of action for over a month due to an ankle injury that even prevented him from featuring with his national team during the November break.

Gimenez joined Milan from Feyenoord in the January 2025 transfer window for €28.5m plus add-ons, but he has failed to justify his price tag, collecting just seven goals in 30 appearances across all competitions with the Rossoneri.

Premier League clubs Sunderland, Brentford and West Ham have been linked with signing the Mexico international in the January window, and his departure is necessary for Milan to sign a new centre-forward next month.

Milan already tried to sell Gimenez during the summer transfer window, potentially including the Mexican in a swap deal for Roma striker Artem Dovbyk.

Gimenez, however, pushed to stay at Milan and fight for a starting spot, but the opening months of the 2025-26 campaign have suggested that new Rossoneri boss Massimiliano Allegri doesn’t see the 24-year-old as a regular starter at San Siro.

Mateta has been identified by Milan as a possible replacement for Gimenez, and the Rossoneri are expected to work on a deal with Crystal Palace next month, provided that Gimenez finds a new club.

Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto have recently provided the latest transfer updates on the French forward targeted by the Serie A giants.

English sources had previously claimed that Mateta would be tempted to try a different experience in a new league and, according to Romano, Torino were interested in signing him a few years ago.

Fast forward to today, Mateta would be tempted to move to Italy, especially knowing that Milan already considered signing him last summer. Crystal Palace’s asking price, however, made it impossible for the Rossoneri to finalise the transfer back then, but the striker remains on the Rossoneri’s agenda ahead of the January transfer window.

Football Italia understands that Mateta was also a target of Atalanta last summer, but Palace rejected a €40m bid in August, asking for €50m plus add-ons, practically taking the Frenchman off the market.

Crystal Palace’s demands in the January window are unlikely to decrease, but Mateta’s contract with the London-based club expires in June 2027, and the two parties are nowhere near reaching an agreement, further reinforcing Milan’s interest in him.

Crystal Palace’s demands will once again be crucial in the January transfer window, but Milan are aware that the English club is in good financial health, especially after Eberechi Eze’s big sale over the summer.

Mateta has scored nine goals in 22 appearances across all competitions this season and recently made his senior France debut, netting twice in his first two international appearances.

Christian Pulisic is currently Milan’s top goalscorer with seven goals in 10 appearances across all competitions. The American star was also Milan’s best scorer in the 2024-25 season.

Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers follow Pulisic as the team’s best goal-scorers with six and two goals scored, respectively.

The Rossoneri hired Allegri as their new coach last summer, and have been unbeaten in the last 12 league matches, having only lost the season’s opener against Cremonese.