Crystal Palace handed boost before Brentford clash with star striker set to return from Olympic duty

Jean-Philippe Mateta is expected to return to Crystal Palace from Olympic duty before their first Premier League outing of the season against Brentford, the South London Press understands.

The 27-year-old is currently one of the most lethal strikers in European football and has fired Thierry Henry’s France side to an Olympic men’s football final against Spain.

Mateta has netted four times en route to France reaching their first final at the Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles games.

The Eagles forward has started every game under Arsenal legend Henry and most recently scored a brace in the 3-1 extra-time win over Eygpt on Monday evening – taking his tally to 18 goals in 18 games in 2024.

Mateta won Palace’s Player of the Season last year as he hit 19 goals and picked up five assists.

He scored 13 times in 13 games under Oliver Glasner and also recorded his first Premier League hat-trick.

The former Mainz striker has two years plus a club option left on his current deal, with Aston Villa enquiring about Mateta this summer ahead of their first-ever Champions League campaign.

Italian giants Roma were also monitoring Mateta’s availability before signing Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk from La Liga side Girona.

Palace kick-off their first full season with Glasner in charge at the Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday August 18 and Mateta’s availability would be a huge boost to the Austrian manager as he looks to get off to winning start to the 2024-25 season.