Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Jean-Philippe Mateta, according to reports
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Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as strong contenders to sign highly-rated Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta in 2026.
Football Insider understands that Thomas Frank is in the market for a new centre forward that can fire his team to silverware, and Mateta is understood to be the man that fits the bill.
The French forward is enjoying another strong season with Crystal Palace. He’s scored nine goals in 24 matches across all competitions, has helped the club win the Community Shield against English champions Liverpool and he notably scored the goal that secured Palace’s status as a Conference League outfit after a narrow victory over Fredrikstad in qualifying.
Mateta boasts an overall record of 55 goals in almost six years with the Eagles and has been a man reborn since Oliver Glasner’s appointment, scoring 45 of his goals since the start of the 2023/24 campaign. He’s right at the peak of his powers aged 28 and remains a crucial player for the football club.
However, discussions over a new contract have stalled in recent months and it’s reported by talkSPORT that the talented striker faces an uncertain future at Selhurst Park. Mateta’s current deal expires at the end of the 2026-27 season, possibly offering an opening for the Lilywhites to take advantage of the Eagles’ perilous position. Although they are not alone in their pursuit with Italian giants AC Milan also being linked with the former Mainz frontman.
Would Jean-Philippe Mateta be a good fit at Tottenham Hotspur?
Tottenham have a variety of strong options in attack already. Richarilson is their most used central striking option under Thomas Frank while loan signing Randal Kolo Muani is starting to feature more regularly following his loan move from Paris-Saint-Germain after an injury-hit start.
There’s also a young forward in Mathys Tel in and around the team, although he’s often been used out wide due to competition from elsewhere. Also on the books is club-record £65m signing Dominic Solanke. He scored 19 times in 37 matches for Bournemouth in 2023/24, but failed to make quite the same impact in his debut campaign at Tottenham.
He did, however, still manage 16 goals in 45 appearances for the Lillywhites, including nine in the Premier League and notably five in Europe as the club ended their 17-year-wait for silverware. The England international has only appeared twice this season due to a long-term ankle injury and it’s not yet clear when he’ll be back in contention.
Mateta at present has a better goalscoring rate than all of Tottenham’s current options and it’s clear he’d bring something different to their attack in terms of technical skill. However, it’s hard to see them signing him unless one of their forwards departs.
What can Tottenham do to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta?
Football Insider understands Tottenham made an undisclosed bid for Mateta during the summer which was quickly batted away by Crystal Palace, who were keen to avoid losing anymore players after Eberechi Eze’s exit to Arsenal. If there’s substance to these claims than it appears likely that Tottenham could try once again to bring Mateta to North London.
Palace would be reluctant to lose their talisman, but will also be weary of the risks involved with keeping a player that’s planning to depart. For example, they allowed Wilfried Zaha to leave for free, despite at one time having a reported £70m plus James McCarthy and Cenk Tosun bid on the table from Everton.
Meanwhile, they also look likely to lose Marc Guehi on a free transfer after denying Liverpool the chance to sign him for £35m on deadline day, while also rejecting even bigger offers from Newcastle and Tottenham earlier in his contract.
Perhaps the best course of action if Mateta does decide to leave would be to take a transfer fee and potentially a Tottenham player as part of the deal to fill their centre forward void. Solanke could be one options to consider in the summer once he’s regained his fitness. He’s a similar age to Mateta and has been speculated as a player they may look to sell in the near future.