Rooney tells Arsenal to hijack £40m Utd transfer that would solve glaring issue

Wayne Rooney reckons Jean-Philippe Mateta would be a good fit for Arsenal after claims Manchester United have opened talks to sign the striker.

Mateta, 27, has flourished at Crystal Palace since Oliver Glasner succeeded Roy Hodgson in February 2024. And after finishing the 2023-24 campaign strongly, the Frenchman has continued in a similar vein this year, plundering 12 goals in the Premier League.

Both Arsenal and United are set to enter the transfer market for a new No.9 during the summer break and it emerged over the weekend that the latter already have Mateta firmly on their radar.

Rooney, though, says Mateta should also be considered by Arsenal - as he would thrive from the amount of crosses they get into the penalty area under Mikel Arteta.

"Jean-Philippe Mateta is a big, strong lad who scores a lot of goals," Rooney told BBC Sport over the weekend.

"From watching Arsenal over the past few games in the Premier League, they have put a lot of balls into the box without having anyone to get on the end of them. I am sure he would help from that point of view."

While United have seen Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee - a summer buy from Bologna - struggle for goals this season, Arsenal have been forced to deploy Mikel Merino as an emergency No.9 in recent weeks due to injuries.

Both teams have been linked with Viktor Gyokeres, who is expected to leave Sporting Lisbon in the summer. It recently emerged that he had his heart set on joining a team who can offer him Champions League football, though, with Mateta identified as an alternative target.

United scouts feel the former Mainz man is the ideal profile of forward who will thrive as a lone frontman in Ruben Amorim's favoured 3-4-2-1 formation and he would be available for a far more modest fee of around £40million.

While Mateta may be attracting interest from some of the Premier League's elite, Troy Deeney argued that he is 'not good enough' to play for Manchester United when was asked if the striker would be a good signing. He told talkSPORT: "No, because he's not the answer for Palace. So why is he going to be the answer for Manchester United?

"I think Jean is a very good player, by the way. But he's a very good player at Crystal Palace. I was a very good player at Watford. Going to the levels of these big clubs is completely different.

"The only thing that plays into his favour is they kind of play a similar formation with Palace at the moment, where he's the lead one through the middle. But I would argue that Palace's No10s are better than what Manchester United have got currently. So I think he's going through a good vein of form because Palace are in a good moment. No one was saying they should have signed him in pre-season."