Liverpool are said to have held a meeting with a striker and his agents over a move to the club this summer, according to journalist Sebastien Denis.
A new No.9 has to be high up on the Reds’ list of priorities between now and the end of the summer transfer window, with a replacement for the likely outgoing Darwin Nunez needed, should he depart.
The likes of Alexander Isak, Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike and Viktor Gyokeres have all been linked with moves to Liverpool in recent months, but now a new name has emerged.
According to an update from Foot Mercato‘s Denis on X, Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and his representatives held a meeting with Liverpool in Paris recently, with the Reds eyeing him up as a potential option this summer:
“French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and his representative met with Liverpool in Paris last days.”
Is Mateta the right No.9 choice for Liverpool?
Mateta is arguably a strange option for Liverpool to sign this summer, with the 28-year-old not quite at the level of those mentioned above, despite being hailed by Palace manager Oliver Glasner:
“He’s an old-fashioned striker, you can play a little more direct. He can keep the ball. He’s a boring striker to play against, he doesn’t lose the ball much, and he goes at the last defender. He uses his physicality, he’s good with his head, and he scores. It’s important that a striker like that gives you another dimension. He was also voted Player of the Year at Crystal Palace. It seems to me that he’s not too bad.”
Mateta also isn’t getting any younger, so he isn’t someone who could come in and improve drastically over the next three or four years, such as Ekitike for example, and the rumoured £52m that Palace want for him also isn’t exactly cheap.
Admittedly, the Frenchman has shown that he can impress in the Premier League, scoring 38 goals in 130 appearances in the competition, but with all due respect to the Eagles marksman, Liverpool need to be looking at a higher calibre of player in the summer window.