Wayne Rooney has tipped Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta as a perfect fit for Arsenal amidst transfer speculation.
The French forward has been in scintillating form since Oliver Glasner took the helm at Palace in February 2024, ending the 2023-24 season with a bang and maintaining his goal-scoring prowess this term. With both Arsenal and Manchester United in pursuit of a new striker for the summer, the former England captain believes that Mateta's aerial ability would mesh well with the Gunners' style under Mikel Arteta's management.
"Jean-Philippe Mateta is a big, strong lad who scores a lot of goals," Rooney told BBC Sport over the weekend. "From watching Arsenal over the past few games in the Premier League, they have put a lot of balls into the box without having anyone to get on the end of them. I am sure he would help from that point of view."
While Manchester United's recent signings Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have struggled to find the net, Arsenal has had to resort to using midfielder Mikel Merino up front due to injury woes, spotlighting the need for a target man like Mateta.
Viktor Gyokeres is a target for the Gunners, with Sporting Lisbon likely to see him depart come summer. The buzz around the striker has intensified following revelations that he's eyeing a club that can offer Champions League football, reports the Mirror.
Not everyone believes Mateta, who could be snapped up for around £40million, would be an ideal fit, though. Troy Deeney argued that he is 'not good enough' to play for Manchester United when was asked if the striker would be a good signing. He told talkSPORT: "No, because he's not the answer for Palace. So why is he going to be the answer for Manchester United?
"I think Jean is a very good player, by the way. But he's a very good player at Crystal Palace. I was a very good player at Watford. Going to the levels of these big clubs is completely different.
"The only thing that plays into his favour is they kind of play a similar formation with Palace at the moment, where he's the lead one through the middle. But I would argue that Palace's No10s are better than what Manchester United have got currently. So I think he's going through a good vein of form because Palace are in a good moment. No one was saying they should have signed him in pre-season."
Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel
Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.