Carrick must copy Amorim request for Man Utd signing as INEOS given ‘real chance’ of no-brainer deal

Manchester United need to take advantage of the latest ‘blow’ for Crystal Palace, who ‘face losing another key player’ after Marc Guehi this month.

All Crystal Palace supporters have presumably hibernated following a traumatic Friday, during which Oliver Glasner confirmed that he and Marc Guehi will leave the club this month.

Palace have been truly spoiled over the past couple of years as Glasner has taken them to new heights and helped them win their first FA Cup, but a club of their stature cannot have nice things for too long and the Premier League vultures are hovering for their key assets.

Glasner is ‘no longer the favourite’ to join Man Utd, but he will have no problem landing another top job, while Guehi is on the brink of joining Man City after an agreement was struck on Friday. 

And Palace’s day has somehow got even worse, with Sky Sports reporting that they ‘face another blow’ with Mateta ‘open to a new challenge’ and a transfer this month.

READ: Guehi and Glasner double proves Crystal Palace fans are only allowed one nice thing

The report explained: ‘There is a real chance that Mateta could join captain Marc Guehi in leaving the club this month.

‘The 28-year-old wants to play for a Champions League club or a club that have a good chance of playing in the competition next season. Juventus and several Premier League clubs are interested in signing him. But the ex-Mainz striker would not want to move to Saudi Arabia or Turkey at this stage of his career.’

There have been mixed signals regarding Man Utd’s stance on making a signing or two this month, but a conflict between director of football Jason Wilcox and former head coach Ruben Amorim contributed to the latter’s exit.

Interestingly, it has since emerged that Amorim wanted Man Utd to sign Mateta or Brighton’s Danny Welbeck this month.

“Amorim was keen on getting more attacking options – he likes Jean Philippe-Mateta, he likes Danny Welbeck at Brighton as well,” Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett revealed.

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Dorsett went on to state that the Red Devils ‘are not planning to spend big in January’ and ‘Carrick hasn’t asked for any reinforcements’, but this feels like a misstep.

After seeing how Man City are going above and beyond to boost their Premier League title hopes, Man Utd are missing an opportunity by not doing the same to bolster their Champions League aspirations.

Champions League qualification is there for the taking for Man Utd, especially if they can secure a couple of valuable additions in priority positions.

This does not have to be a big-money signing, because an affordable deal for Mateta and/or Ruben Neves would be enough to make them far stronger in positions where they are weak.

Regarding Mateta, he is exactly the type of player they should be looking at to take some pressure away from Benjamin Sesko, who is crying out for support as he risks being swallowed up a la Rasmus Hojlund.

Mateta is a different striker profile from Sesko, but he would be a great asset for Man Utd to have because he is proven in the Premier League as a goalscorer and all-around centre-forward who can bring more out of the supporting cast around him. If the terms are reasonable, it would be a no-brainer signing.