Wayne Rooney thinks that Jean-Philippe Mateta would be a good fit for Arsenal after claiming that Manchester United has opened conversations to sign the striker.
Mateta, 27, has flourished in Crystal Palace since Oliver Glasner Roy Hodgson succeeded in February 2024. And after having finished strongly after the 2023-24 campaign, the Frenchman continued in a similar vein this year and 12 goals plundered in the Premier League.
Both Arsenal and United will enter the transfer market for a new No. 9 during the summer holidays and it arose this weekend that the latter already has Mateta firmly on their radar.
However, Rooney says that Mateta should also be considered by Arsenal – because he would thrive through the amount of crosses they get in the penalty area under Mikel Arteta.
“Jean-Philippe Mateta is a big, strong boy who scores many goals,” Rooney told BBC Sport on weekends.
“From watching Arsenal in the last few games in the Premier League, they have put a lot of balls in the box without anyone being at the end of them. I am sure he would help from that point of view.”
While United Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee – a summer purchase of Bologna – has seen a fight for goals for goals this season, Arsenal are forced to implement Mikel Merino as an emergency aid no. 9 in recent weeks due to injuries.
Both teams have been associated with Viktor Gyokeres, who is expected to leave Sporting Lisbon in the summer. It recently emerged that he had set his heart to become a member of a team that can offer him Champions League football, with Mateta identified as an alternative target.
United Scouts believe that the former Mainz-Man is the ideal profile of Forward who will thrive as a lonely frontman in the favorite 3-4-2-1 formation of Ruben Amorim and he would be available for a much more modest reimbursement of around £ 40 million.
Although Mateta may be interested in part of the Premier League elite, Troy Deeney claimed that he is 'not good enough' to play for Manchester United when it was asked if the striker would be a good signature. He said Talksport: “No, because he is not the answer for Palace. So why is he the answer for Manchester United?
“I think Jean is a very good player by the way. But he is a very good player at Crystal Palace. I was a very good player in Watford. Going to the level of these big clubs is completely different.
“The only thing that plays in his favor is that they are currently playing a kind of similar formation with Palace, where he is the protagonist in the middle. But I would claim that Palace's No10s are better than what Manchester United currently has. So I think he has a good vein of shape because Palace is in a good time.
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