Jean-Philippe Mateta is undoubtedly one of the more outgoing players at Crystal Palace.
The Frenchman has an infectious personality, with Matheus Franca even describing the Crystal Palace No.14 as the player he missed most over the summer in a recent video posted by the Eagles.
Now, Jean-Philippe Mateta has gone out of his way to ensure new signings Chadi Riad and Daichi Kamada feel welcome at Selhurst Park…
Jean-Philippe Mateta takes Daichi Kamada and Chadi Riad out for a meal
The 27-year-old has revealed on Instagram that he took the £15m Morocco international and the Japan international out for dinner.
Mateta posted a photo of himself alongside Riad and Kamada in a restaurant on his temporary Instagram story – along with another unknown person, potentially a translator.
You can see a screenshot of the story below.
If Mateta arranged this off his own back, it is heartwarming to see.
Of course, it would have been even better to see the entire squad out for dinner with Kamada and Riad in an attempt to help them gel with the squad.
Nevertheless – given his bubbly personality – it cannot be ruled out that Steve Parish potentially asked Mateta to help the pair settle in, before he jets off back to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Team spirit seems high at Crystal Palace
Even with six players missing from pre-season training, as they are involved in major international tournaments with either England or Colombia, morale seems high at Copers Cope.
Footage released by Crystal Palace so far this summer from behind the scenes shows everybody bonding well, while a new video released by the Eagles, in which every player sends their support to Marc Guehi, Ebere Eze, Adam Wharton and Dean Henderson ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 final, further emphasises the tight knit nature of the group.
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Hopefully, when the England quartet come back from Germany, and Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma return from the Copa America too, the entire squad can go out for dinner with Riad and Kamada and improve this team spirit even more.
