Jean Philippe Mateta will be nowhere near Crystal Palace’s trip to Nottingham Forest after boss Oliver Glasner admitted the striker is “not in the right place” as transfer chaos swirls around him.
AC Milan have ramped up their chase for the French hitman after first sniffing around in January, while Forest have already had a £35m bid knocked back with Palace holding out for £40m.
And Glasner made it clear on Friday that Mateta’s mind is far from football.
“He is not in the right place,” said the Palace chief. “To play makes no sense. I have to protect the team and I have to protect him. That is why he will not travel to Nottingham.”
The 28 year old is Palace’s top scorer with eight Premier League goals but told the club earlier this month he wants out.
“There is so much noise, so much speculation,” Glasner added. “We need every player at their best and JP isn’t there right now. If someone can’t focus on football, it makes no sense to play him. He can’t perform at his top level.”
Palace are hovering in 15th and are already adjusting to life without skipper Marc Guehi after his big money move to Manchester City.
With no replacement through the door yet, Glasner insists the club are working flat out ahead of Monday’s deadline.
“The club is working almost 24 hours a day,” he said. “It’s not easy at the end of January because every team wants to keep their best players. But I see the club pushing hard to strengthen and to be ready if something happens with JP.”
One name still in the frame is Wolves striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, though that deal is now wobbling after Palace hinted they could walk away despite being willing to go as high as £50m.
Glasner admitted everything is up in the air.
“Mateta could still be a Palace player in February or he could be gone with a new striker in,” he said. “These are the two situations we are preparing for.”
Meanwhile Wolves boss Rob Edwards confirmed Larsen is set to feature against Bournemouth on Saturday, keeping the transfer saga bubbling nicely.