Wilfried Zaha Speaks Out on Jean-Philippe Mateta After 'Disgusting' Comment Row
Wilfried Zaha has spoken out on Jean-Phillipe Mateta's reported Crystal Palace exit following a feud between the former teammates earlier in the season.
Mateta has been desperate to leave Crystal Palace this window, following the departure of Marc Guehi and announcement manager Oliver Glasner will be leaving in the summer.
It was reported over the weekend by Di Marzio, that AC Milan had hijacked a move for the striker from Nottingham Forest, however, a deal now looks in doubt.
According to David Ornstein, the Italian giants have concerns over the player's medical, with Sky Sports also confirming Milan are sending a club doctor to examine Mateta before proceeding with the deal.
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During a snapchat q&a, former Palace star Zaha was asked for his thoughts on Mateta's actions, given the Ivorian winger rejected many moves away from Selhurst Park in his second stint at the club.
The fan asked: "What do you think of Mateta's recent conduct?"
Zaha made his feelings clear by replying: "Nothing because last time I spoke on anything Palace related... Palace fans turned on me."
This comes three months after the former teammates clashed online over Zaha's previous comments about Matata's international hopes.
Zaha and Mateta feud explained
Speaking after his first France call up in October to L’Equipe, the striker called out Zaha for 'laughing' about his ambitions.
"I always believed [in playing for the France national team]," he said.
"At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I wasn’t even playing, I spoke about the France team in the dressing room and I had team-mates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing," he added.
It took the Charlotte FC attacker a week to fully respond to the comments, with the 33-year-old unleashing a two-minute rant on the situation via snapchat.
"No, I'm sorry, My head's on fire," he began in the video
"I've got to clear up this Mateta situation because he doesn't want to, I spoke to him, he doesn't want to, he's okay with it.
"And this just shows me that, see the times when I was playing at Crystal Palace and people, all these people were watching me, it's clear that they weren't happy for me because I never made anyone feel like s***. I never — like everyone knows me like that," he insisted.
Zaha stressed that he never intended to insult Mateta, and claimed that there were multiple players involved in the incident the striker was referring to.
"The only time on the pitch is when I'm passionate and all that stuff, but I'd never bully someone or say someone won't make it here or won't make it at all or nothing like that," he continued.
"So it's disgusting when I see someone that I thought was a friend do that. Like the conversation that was had was, his chances of playing for France way back when he wasn't playing for Palace and there were 10 players that he had this conversation with.
"And as friends, we laughed it off, but we were joking around that it was going to be difficult, especially with Benzema and all these different players playing in those positions, but we never, ever once said you're never going to make it," he finished.
Tom Jenkins