Knee injury could scupper Mateta’s World Cup ‘dream’

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has indicated the knee injury that scuppered Jean-Philippe Mateta’s planned move to AC Milan could also thwart the striker’s “dream” of playing at the World Cup.

Mateta was on the verge of joining Milan for £30m on deadline day, but the deal was called off after knee issues emerged over the course of two medical examinations.

The 28-year-old has been dealing with the injury to his right knee during the first half of the season.

“We knew and he knew there was an issue. He was not really pleased,” Glasner said.

“We took a higher risk, that’s why he could play in most games, but we rested him for some games and some training sessions.

France international Mateta has yet to decide what his next steps should be, with this summer’s World Cup on his mind.

“There are two ways we can do this: manage the knee like we have until after the World Cup, which is Mateta’s dream to play in. The other one is he undergoes surgery,” Glasner said.

“We don’t know how long he would be out. There are a few predictions: it could be two months, three months, six to nine months. There are many opinions, but it is about doing the right thing and we will decide next week.”

Despite retaining Mateta, who is Palace’s top scorer with eight league goals this season, the Eagles paid a club record fee to sign striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves.

Palace were also on the verge of bringing in Everton winger Dwight McNeil until the deal fell through late on deadline day.

Glasner said he had “learned to accept situations” after Palace were also unsuccessful in finding a replacement for captain and centre-back Marc Guehi, who joined Manchester City earlier in the window.

“At the end of it, the club tried everything with huge offers and huge bids for a Marc Guehi replacement, but clubs said they don’t sell on deadline day,” Glasner said.

“Credit to the club that without getting any money for Mateta they still spent a big fee on Strand Larsen.

“On the other side, McNeil was the last one we thought we could finalise, but in the last minutes the terms of the deal changed again and the deal failed. I expected him and planned for him in the next day’s training.”

McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, criticised Crystal Palace on social media for the way they handled the situation.

Everton boss David Moyes said the breakdown had “nothing to do” with his club and insists McNeil is “fine”.

“He’s in and he’s training as well, so Dwight’s OK,” Moyes said.

“We understand exactly where it went wrong, how it broke down. He knows everything about it and there’s no problems there.