JEAN-Philippe Mateta's loan move to Palace could about to be made permanent after an improvement to his performances on the pitch.

The French striker joined the club last January on an 18 month loan deal from Bundesliga side Mainz.

In the twelve months since his initial move Mateta left a lot to be deseired as he only scored three times in 16 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Your Local Guardian: Jean-Philippe MatetaJean-Philippe Mateta

Seemingly it had looked like Mateta would go down as a flop and there were even reports that his loan could be cancelled and that he would be allowed to leave Selhurst Park.

However, despite this poor scoring record Mateta's performances have improved recently and he has become a regular on the pitch for manager Patrick Vieira.

This improvement has led to reports to be made that the club are now considering making the 24-year-old's loan move permanent.

According to SunSport, Palace are hoping to convince Mainz to take a lower fee than their asking price of £14 million.

Speaking about Mateta earlier this month Vieira said: “He’s there, he’s with us, part of the team and the squad. He’s available as anybody else. After I have to make a decision.

“But he’s working really well every single day and making it really difficult for me to choose the front players.”

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