Crystal Palace may decide to sell Jean-Philippe Mateta during the summer transfer window despite only signing him in January, according to The Athletic's Matt Woosnam.

The lowdown

Palace initially signed Mateta on an 18-month loan deal from Bundesliga outfit Mainz in January 2021 and agreed to make the deal permanent earlier this year.

The loan had included a purchase option of €15m (£12.4m), but Mainz showed a willingness to accept a reduced fee. The Frenchman penned a four-and-a-half-year contract worth £53,400 per week.

Having only started one game this season before Boxing Day, Mateta is now enjoying a run of five starts in the last 11 Premier League matches (via Transfermarkt). He has also scored in two of his last three league games, finding the net in victories over Wolves and Watford.

The latest

Woosnam was asked by a Palace supporter in the comments of an article for The Athletic whether he had heard 'whispers' about the Eagles cashing in on Mateta.

The journalist duly replied: "It's a possibility David. I think the signing of him permanently was an opportunistic one. They managed to negotiate a lower price than previously agreed, he's in good form, if he's not the answer when they review in the summer they can sell him, likely for a profit given his upturn in form, and bring someone in who they see as more suitable. However, it may be that they determine he's worth keeping."

The verdict

If Mateta is moved on by Palace, it could be good news for Odsonne Edouard - Carlton Palmer said last week that the summer signing from Celtic 'will be disappointed' by his recent lack of game-time at Selhurst Park.

While Mateta has moved up the pecking order under Vieira, his compatriot has played just one minute of football over the course of the last four league matches, and his job may now be to convince Vieira to show more faith in him rather than replacing Mateta with an expensive new recruit, if the latter does indeed exit the south London club.

In other news, could it be one Frenchman out, one Frenchman in at Selhurst Park?