Matheus Franca is yet to impose himself at Crystal Palace following his £26m move from Flamengo in August 2023.
The Brazilian was inexplicably overlooked by Roy Hodgson for most of his debut campaign in English football, making just one Premier League start under the 77-year-old.
Once Oliver Glasner arrived at Selhurst Park, the South American’s situation seemed more promising as he registered two assists in a 3-0 win over Burnley, before a groin injury ruled him out of the final 11 Premier League games.
Sadly, the Crystal Palace No.11 was also unable to feature at all throughout pre-season with little said on the matter, although there has now been an update on Matheus Franca…
Matheus Franca latest
A story from The Athletic now confirms that Franca has been absent throughout pre-season as his injury problems continue, although the Brazil U20 international is close to a return.
The recent open training session at Selhurst Park showed the 20-year-old engaging in light shooting drills alongside Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, so the problem does not seem to be a severe one, although Glasner is understandably anxious about rushing the £26m man back to action.
Unfortunately, The Athletic did not put a timeframe on when Franca will return, simply stating that the forward from Rio de Janeiro is “close” to regaining full fitness and nothing more.
Crystal Palace No.11 needs to impress in the 2024/25 campaign
Franca deserves to be let off for his underwhelming 2023/24 campaign, as he was a teenager playing his football outside of Brazil for the first time, while Hodgson hardly helped him acclimatise before injury ruined his chance of progress under Glasner.
However, the Brazilian needs to show why Steve Parish spent £26m on his signature in the 2024/25 season.
Franca will already be playing catchup this term after missing pre-season, so there will be pressure on him to get up to speed as soon as possible and contribute to Crystal Palace’s attack, especially as the departure of Michael Olise significantly weakened the frontline.
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Hopefully, Franca – who actually has a Ballon d’Or clause in his Crystal Palace contract – can start to make a name for himself in the Premier League next season.
