‘A bit grotesque’ – Journalist breaks down timeline of Mateta to Milan saga

Journalist Nicolo Schira has provided a detailed breakdown of exactly what happened in the Jean-Philippe Mateta saga.

On the penultimate day of the winter window on February 1, multiple reliable sources stated that Milan and Crystal Palace had agreed a deal worth €30-35m for Mateta, the striker that the management had originally planned to sign in the summer.

The expectation was then that Mateta would undergo a medical and sign his contract, but later that night doubts had started to emerge about the state of the Frenchman’s knee(s). These would never be overcome, and ultimately the deal collapsed at the final hurdle.

Schira lifts the lid

There have been various versions of events and viewpoints on what exactly happened between the player and the two clubs. In an interview with PianetaMilan, Nicolo Schira provided a detailed breakdown of how he perceived things went.

“I believe there were several short circuits regarding Mateta. I tend to believe and I think, and I’m also quite convinced, that Milan, like other clubs that negotiated with Mateta, were unaware of the problem,” he began.

“Also because I can tell you that up until a few hours before the end of the transfer window, this problem was initially denied by people close to Mateta’s entourage and then downplayed. Evidently, then, there was something that went wrong in Mateta’s management. I think on everyone’s part.

“At Crystal Palace, if you know you’re putting a player on the market who needs surgery, in a thousand inverted commas, you try to ‘dump him’ on the other teams. Because if you put someone on the market who isn’t well, you try to ‘rip them off’.

“Even in the management by the entourage, something went wrong, because then in practice you have to look at the facts. The player was pursued for a long time by Juve, then he rejected Turkey, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa (who however had always had as their primary objective, former Roma and Milan player Tammy Abraham).

“Mateta remains at square one at Crystal Palace; he won’t play much, although it’s still unclear whether he’ll undergo surgery or adopt conservative treatment. In any case, he’ll play little and will see his value decline rather than soar.

“He’s emerged as a player with physical problems, making him less attractive on the transfer market this summer: disastrous management. So much so that I’ve heard rumours and reports that he’s even considering changing his agent, and I can understand that.

“In the long run, it’s good for AC Milan, with hindsight, to have conducted thorough medical checks to avoid finding themselves with a player who might play two games right away and then sit out two months with problems. Of course, it’s clear that the way it went was a bit grotesque.

“The important thing is that in the end, especially for Italian clubs, who don’t have as much money to spend on the transfer market as English clubs, they avoided finding themselves in the middle of a scam.

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

“The Mateta situation arose at the end of January, so it was a bit difficult for them to look for other solutions. ‘Last minute’. Because Mateta was already a ‘last minute’ solution. Mateta was something Milan put together 4-5 days before the end of the transfer window and reached all the agreements within 48 hours of the end.

“On Saturday afternoon, Mateta was virtually a Milan player; it was assumed he would arrive in Milan on Sunday for medicals and signings, with the transfer window closing on Monday. Then, initially, Palace didn’t release him – Mateta’s emojis on Instagram, him unfollowing Palace and removing the words ‘Crystal Palace striker’ from his social media bio – and it seemed like a break-up.

“Palace found his replacement on Sunday in Strand Larsen, and everything seemed done, but Milan, in moving forward and conducting the medicals, realized, discovered,He’s aware of this notorious knee issue that’s causing doubts.

“And at that point, with 24 hours to go until the transfer window closes, there’s no time to find a similar situation. That’s basically how it went. In my opinion, in the management, the negativity, the chaos that was created, in my opinion, Milan finally realized it was a stumbling block that someone clearly wanted to put in the way.

“Before Juventus, because in the first 15 days of the January transfer window, Juventus were vying for Mateta. I don’t think anyone knew about this, which was evidently omitted, hidden, and concealed, first by the player’s entourage and then by Crystal Palace.

“Also because even Glasner only spoke about the issue in early February, after the transfer window had closed, and made it clear that Mateta had been living with it for a month and a half. Before that, though, everyone was just playing ducks. From what I understand, neither Mateta nor Disasi were driving Allegri crazy.”