Crystal Palace have triggered an extension clause in Jean-Philippe Mateta’s contract which will see his deal now run for a further year until June 2027.
Mateta has been in negotiations over a new deal for some time but those talks concluded without an agreement, with Mateta choosing to walk away from the possibility of extending his stay at Palace, with the two parties significantly apart in discussions.
But instead, the club has unilaterally taken up their option in his deal to extend it by 12 months, with the deal previously ending in June 2026.
The 27-year-old initially joined on loan before a permanent move from Bundesliga side Mainz and has thrived over the past year after some indifferent form beforehand.
“If I get given my chance, I can be one of the best goalscorers in the Premier League,” he told The Athletic in April.
The striker has since become a key part of manager Oliver Glasner’s side. He ended last season with a scintillating spell of form which produced 13 goals from 15 games, including at least one in seven consecutive home Premier League games. He scored Palace’s second-ever Premier League hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa on the final day of last season.
“I’m happy to play game after game,” he added. “The more I’m on the pitch the more I can assist and score. Before, I didn’t have many chances, I came on for five or 10 minutes.”
“Sometimes in life you get given advice and you can say, ‘Yeah, I understand’, but if you don’t experience it then you can’t understand. The more you play the more you experience and understand it. That’s why I’m better game after game.”
Mateta harbours ambitions to feature regularly for the French national team, having enjoyed recognition for his performances with a call-up to the men’s Olympic squad, where he scored five goals in four games. That included a brace in the semi-final victory over Egypt and a goal in the final where France were defeated after extra time by Spain.
He has seven goals in all competitions for Palace this season.
(Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images)
