Crystal Palace need to get their season back on track. Oliver Glasner‘s side have flaked away over the past couple of months, in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle after only one win from 11 Premier League matches.
With 32 points on the board, it seems unlikely that the south Londoners should be overtaken by 18th-place West Ham United, eight points behind them,
However, the sale of Marc Guehi to Manchester City in January has weakened the Eagles’ defence, and that after losing Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in a £67m deal last summer.
Palace need a new talismanic presence to lift them back into the ascendancy. Over these crucial coming months, could that be Jean-Philippe Mateta?
The latest on Jean-Philippe Mateta’s future
Though the knowledge that Mateta was desperate to leave for pastures new has irritated the Crystal Palace fanbase, this turn of fate does provide Glasner with a talented Premier League striker for the business months of the campaign.
After all, Mateta has developed into “one of the best strikers” in England over the past five years, as has been noted by analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson. Since the start of the 2023/24 season, he has scored 38 Premier League goals (Mateta, not Mattinson).
However, Mateta has had his head in the clouds in recent months, intent on landing a move away. This can be observed through his finishing, missing 16 big chances while converting just eight in the league so far.
|
Jean-Philippe Mateta in the Premier League |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Apps |
Goals + Assists |
|
25/26 |
23 |
8 + 0 |
|
24/25 |
37 |
14 + 2 |
|
23/24 |
35 |
16 + 6 |
|
22/23 |
29 |
2 + 0 |
|
21/22 |
22 |
5 + 1 |
|
20/21 |
7 |
1 + 0 |
|
Data via Transfermarkt |
||
Even so, the France international is one of the strongest players in Glasner’s squad, but while he could play a big part over the next few months, there’s another forward who’s ready to take the talismanic role and prove themselves as Selhurst Park’s new version of Eze.
Glasner’s new version of Eze
Eze scored the winning goal in last year’s FA Cup final, immortalising himself in Crystal Palace lore. So ended his storied career in south London, moving to N5 to pursue a higher shelf of silverware with Mikel Arteta.
Mateta is not a similar player to Eze, of course, but he could have stepped up and played a leading role in the striker’s position this season, but that could actually be a role picked up by new recruit Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Toward the end of the winter transfer window, Palace paid a club-record sum of £48m for the Norwegian centre-forward, so you’d expect him to do well.
But Strand Larsen, 25, had flattered to deceive at Wolves for the first half, scoring only once in the Premier League as the Old Gold sink into the second tier.
However, class is permanent, and after bagging 15 Premier League goals last season, he is back in fine form at Selhurst Park, notching twice against Burnley before the Clarets staged a bitter comeback in midweek.
Standing at 6 foot 4, Strand Larsen is a towering presence, a “nuisance” for defenders due to his physicality and deft hold-up play, according to league legend Alan Shearer.
In this, he does indeed differ from Eze, but the England international’s sharpness and unique attacking approach bore dividends for Glasner’s side. He stood up after the sale of Michael Olise to Bayern Munich and won the club silverware.
The circumstances are not the same, for sure, but Strand Larsen could now become the focal point as Mateta drifts toward a departure.
We’re in the shallow end of Strand Larsen’s Crystal Palace career, but his clinical edge in the final third and fast start at the tip of a frontline lacking fluency suggest he might just emerge as the new leading man for Glasner’s side.
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