The 29-year-old French striker is open to a January move to United, according to a Football365 report, which also links the club to Palace winger Ismaila Sarr. Mateta’s contract at Selhurst Park runs down at the end of the current season, and he has shown no inclination to extend, leaving the Eagles to weigh a mid-season sale against losing him for nothing.
That stance has given United a window. Carrick’s squad has been short on senior attacking cover, and the club is reportedly prepared to listen to offers for Joshua Zirkzee to help fund a move, according to TEAMtalk reporting cited by Football FanCast. The Dutch forward is said to want to stay at Old Trafford, however, which complicates the arithmetic.
Palace’s other wanted man
Sarr’s situation is the opposite of Mateta’s. Palace have put improved terms in front of the 28-year-old Senegal winger, and manager Pierre Sage says talks are advancing.
“Ismaila Sarr has not signed yet, but discussions are under way and going well,” Sage told reporters earlier this month.
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“He is now 100% with us. The club showed its desire for him to stay for a long time.”
Palace blocked a £50m Liverpool bid late in the summer window. Former United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that any new deal is likely to carry a release clause tied to Liverpool, a detail that would hand Anfield priority if they came back. None of that automatically rules United out, but it does suggest Sarr is not actively looking to leave.
United’s crisis is the backdrop
The reports land at an uncomfortable moment at Old Trafford. Carrick’s side has taken just seven points from its opening seven Premier League matches, its worst league start since 1986, and sits in 13th after a 1-1 draw at Leeds that extended a winless run. The team is now closer to the relegation zone than to the top four, with Champions League fixtures stacked on top.
Carrick was handed the job permanently after guiding United to third place and Champions League qualification as interim coach, but the autumn slump has reopened the question of how long the Ineos sporting leadership will give him before intervening.
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Why Mateta is the cleaner deal
Mateta’s expiring contract is the lever. A striker entering the final months of his deal, with no sign of signing a new one, is worth materially less than a settled first-team forward, and that calculation is what makes a January bid plausible. A Sarr move is harder: If he signs the Palace extension in the coming weeks, as Sage expects, any winter approach would need to clear both a long new contract and whatever release wording is written into it.
The transfer window opens on 1 January 2027.
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