---
title: "Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira wants a deeper squad"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/patrick-vieira-cpfc-transfers-nketiah-mateta/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Crystal Palace"
published: "2022-01-12T07:05:53Z"
modified: "2022-01-12T07:05:53Z"
---

# Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira wants a deeper squad

**Patrick Vieira is keen to add more depth to his Crystal Palace squad, according to The Athletic’s Matt Woosnam.**

### The lowdown

The Eagles are [one of six Premier League clubs](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/transfers/wettbewerb/GB1/plus/?saison_id=2021&s_w=w&leihe=1&intern=0&intern=1) – along with Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds, Liverpool and West Ham – who have yet to do any first-team transfer business, either in or out, this month.

However, they did have a busy summer window, bringing in eight new faces and spending [just over £66m](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/transfers/wettbewerb/GB1/plus/?saison_id=2021&s_w=s&leihe=1&intern=0&intern=1).

Midway through Vieira’s first season at the helm, Palace are sitting comfortably in mid-table. Their 12-point gap to 18th place suggests that there’s no danger of relegation this term.

### The latest

Woosnam [tweeted](https://twitter.com/MattWoosie/status/1480812470604345346) on Tuesday morning that Vieira wanted more options at his disposal, but cautioned that Palace may not do business this month unless Jean-Philippe Mateta leaves the club.

His tweet read: “CPFC‘s business in the market this month largely depends on Jean-Philippe Mateta’s future – where uncertainty lies. But Vieira is keen to add more depth still.”

In an attached [‘Sensible Transfers’](https://theathletic.com/3052352/2022/01/10/sensible-transfers-crystal-palace-nketiah-and-moffi-would-fit-vieiras-team-but-summer-business-the-focus/?source=emp-shared-article) article for The Athletic, he wrote that Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah is the ‘most likely’ January arrival. Palace have been interested in the 22-year-old since last summer, and ‘it may be in Arsenal’s interest to sell’ as the player nears the end of his contract in June.

### The verdict

It seems that the idea would be to bring in Nketiah as a replacement for Mateta, ensuring that Palace don’t end the transfer window with fewer centre-forward options than when they started.

The former would arguably represent an upgrade – he’s scoring [every 90.4 minutes](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/eddie-nketiah/leistungsdaten/spieler/340324) at Arsenal this season, while the latter has [only managed to find the net three times](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jean-philippe-mateta/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/420002/verein/873) since he arrived in south London a year ago.

As an indication of Mateta’s failure to live up to expectations, his loan from Mainz included a [€15m (£12.5m) obligation to buy](https://theathletic.com/3052352/2022/01/10/sensible-transfers-crystal-palace-nketiah-and-moffi-would-fit-vieiras-team-but-summer-business-the-focus/?source=emp-shared-article) if he made 19 starts for Palace – up to this point, he has [made just four](https://theathletic.com/3052352/2022/01/10/sensible-transfers-crystal-palace-nketiah-and-moffi-would-fit-vieiras-team-but-summer-business-the-focus/?source=emp-shared-article).

If the Frenchman does leave Selhurst Park this month, it certainly seems wise to try and fill his berth with the signing of Nketiah.

**In other news, [could this be another forward option for Vieira?](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/crystal-palace-news/crystal-palace-eagles-battling-for-bamba-dieng/)**