NOTTINGHAM FOREST have made a stunning transfer offer for Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta, according to reports.
Mateta is unsettled at Palace and relegation-threatened Forest are attempting to boost their survival chances by taking the ace away from a rival in Palace.
Sean Dyche’s side have bid £35million for the Frenchman.
And according to The Telegraph, personal terms between the City Ground side and 28-year-old will not be an issue.
However, it’s understood the Eagles won’t sell the striker until two conditions are fulfilled.
The first of these is their valuation of £40m being met in the offer.
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And the second is dependent on them signing a replacement forward.
Wolves’ Jorgen Strand Larsen is reported to be on their list of potential forward options if Mateta leaves Selhurst Park this window.
It was previously claimed Aston Villa had also expressed an interest in signing Mateta in a move that would see Evann Guessand move the other way.
But Villa since appear to have set their sights on bringing Tammy Abraham back to Villa Park in a deal with Turkish club Besiktas.
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Italian giants Juventus have also enquired about Mateta but were not prepared to meet Palace’s £40m price tag due to both the player’s age and his contact status.
Mateta, who signed for Palace in 2021 initially on loan before a permanent switch from Mainz in 2022 has a year-and-a-half left on his current contract.
Palace selling to Forest would be a highly controversial deal considering the recent bad blood between the two clubs.
Forest were a key witness to Uefa for getting Palace demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League following their stunning FA Cup victory.
Because Palace had not submitted the necessary paperwork and were charged with a breach of multi-club ownership rules, they were moved to the third tier competition at the expense of Forest who were in-turn promoted to the Europa League.
The south London side have already sanctioned the sale of Marc Guehi to Manchester City to avoid losing him on a free in the summer.
Oliver Glasner’s side have not won in the league since December 7 and now sit just three points above Forest in the table.
Glasner, who announced he would be leaving at the end of the season, bemoaned how he would not leave his squad but claimed they had been “abandoned” by club bosses.
Forest sit five points above the relegation zone, while Palace are eight above it.
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