Pierre Sage has a unique situation on his hands at Crystal Palace.
The Frenchman finds himself with a striker in Jorgen Strand Larsen who signed his four-and-a-half year contract in February under the impression he would be replacing Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was undergoing a medical with AC Milan ahead of a £30m switch at the time the Norwegian arrived in SE25.
However – after Mateta failed that medical – the pair are competing for just one spot, with the France international preferred by Oliver Glasner to start the UEFA Conference League final.
While that would be enough to irritate a lot of strikers, Strand Larsen has displayed a tremendous attitude, and seems to admire Mateta much more than he dislikes him after posting a photo of himself on holiday wearing the Frenchman’s shirt.
What are YOUR thoughts on the new home kit? 🤔
I would prefer the sash not to have white gaps, but still quite happy with it 😍
Jorgen Strand Larsen proves he has no issues with Jean-Philippe Mateta
After England knocked Norway out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, the Crystal Palace No.22 went on holiday. Players are entitled to three weeks of holiday after partaking in the World Cup.
Strand Larsen clearly swapped shirts with Mateta after France’s 4-1 win over Norway in the group stage, as the Norwegian has now uploaded a picture of himself wearing his Crystal Palace teammate’s No.22 jersey for France while on a boat.
Having also celebrated passionately alongside the former Lyon striker after victory over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, the 26-year-old is appearing to handle the unintended battle against Mateta with great maturity.
It will be fascinating to see who Sage opts to start the 2026/27 campaign up top.
However, it could end up being a battle between Strand Larsen and Eddie Nketiah.
The Daily Mail claim Mateta’s representatives still want to arrange a move away from Crystal Palace this summer after coming close to sealing a £30m switch to AC Milan in February.
The same story states that Crystal Palace ideally hope to keep the 29-year-old around, and are even willing to let him run down the final 12 months of his contract.
What would YOU do with Mateta? 🇫🇷
Once the World Cup is over, we should start to see more concrete developments on this front.
