Germany stint

Mateta, 23, had been on the books of Bundesliga outfit Mainz since 2018.

The Frenchman, who lined out for his country at both U19 and U21 level, is a product of the famed academy of Ligue 1 giants Lyon, but first began to truly make a name for himself during his time in Germany.

Mateta’s debut campaign at the Opel Arena saw the hitman rack up an impressive 14 league goals, to go along with 2 assists.

And, on the back of a difficult year last time out, during which Mainz narrowly avoided relegation, the towering attacker has since rediscovered his goalscoring touch.

Across 17 appearances in all competitions this season, Mateta has found the net on a none-too-shabby 10 occasions.

Selhurst switch

With such exploits, though, of course comes outside interest.

In turn, earlier this week, reports began to mount that Premier League outfit Crystal Palace had not only set their sights on Mateta, but were in fact on the verge of closing a deal for the hitman.

Interestingly, this came just months after he was named as a target for Palace’s capital rivals Tottenham.

It therefore came as little surprise when the transfer was confirmed this afternoon, with the Eagles, via a series of social media posts, having made their new centre-forward’s arrival official:

👊 Welcome to the Palace, Jean-Philippe Mateta.#CPFC

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 21, 2021

Whilst Palace’s announcement revealed the terms of the deal struck between themselves and Mainz – an 18-month loan with option to buy – however, it did not provide an insight into the financial details involved.

Such particulars, though, have since been revealed elsewhere.

As per Sky Sports, the Londoners have forked over an initial £2.7m for Mateta’s loan.

Their ‘option’ to buy, meanwhile is thought to be around the £13.4m mark, taking the agreement, in total, to a potential £16m.

Perhaps most significant of all, though, is the claim that Palace will in fact be obligated to make the Frenchman’s addition a permanent one in the summer of 2022, if he manages starts in just 15 of the club’s Premier League outings over the next 18 months.

First training session 👌#CPFC | https://t.co/utMcYSDkhb pic.twitter.com/lv5vVWwYYL

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 21, 2021

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This article was edited by
Josh Barker.