MANCHESTER UNITED have been warned not to try and sign Jean-Phillipe Mateta despite their ongoing striker issues.
SunSport exclusively revealed this week that Man Utd are monitoring the Crystal Palace striker and could move to sign the 27-year-old in the summer.
Ruben Amorim is searching for solutions up top with Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund currently firing blanks for the Old Trafford outfit.
Zirkzee has scored just two goals in his last 17 appearances, while Hojlund hasn’t found the back of the net in his last 18 games.
But despite Mateta scoring seven in his last 10, former Premier League striker Troy Deeney doesn’t reckon he’s the right man for United.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Deeney said: “No [he’s not the answer for Man Utd], because he’s not the answer for Palace.
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“So why is he going to be the answer for Manchester United?”
Mateta struggled when he first signed for the Eagles in 2022, managing just 13 goals in his first 83 appearances.
But has been a man transformed since the arrival of boss Oliver Glasner last season, scoring 28 goals in 46 games.
Probed on why he thought Mateta wouldn’t be the right man for the job at the Red Devils, Deeney added: “I think Jean is a very good player, by the way.
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“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 No. 10s 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.”
Deeney, who scored 47 Premier League goals for Watford, went on to explain that he still thinks United need to bring in a centre-forward, suggesting it could help improve the talent that is already there.
He added: “You bring in someone to improve them. I think Zirkzee is more of a ten, more than a striker.
“At Bologna, he was a ten and on the left. People try and force him into the position.
“I think you go and get a proper No.9 and you allow Hojlund to learn off that No.9. Maybe someone that’s five, six years older.
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“There’s a player there in Hojlund. I still think the same with Darwin Nunez. They’re both great team players that run around and do all the good stuff, they just don’t score.
“I think they need to work on that and be a bit more selfish as opposed to team-oriented, then they’ll get the goals.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
