Crystal Palace are enjoying a spectacular end to the Premier League season under new coach Oliver Glasner.
The Austrian has seen his side beat Newcastle United, West Ham United and, most impressively, Liverpool in the last four games, and since he was appointed in February, the Eagles have lost just three league games, one of which was against Manchester City.
In all, things look to be on the up and up at Selhurst Park, and one of the players benefiting most from the club's change of fortune is French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, who is more than repaying his manager's faith in him and making the wages paid out to previous strikers at the club look absurd.
Jean-Philippe Mateta's Palace career in numbers
The Eagles first signed Mateta on an initial 18-month loan from Bundesliga outfit Mainz in January 2021 but made the deal permanent for around £9m in February the following year.
While the 6 foot 4 forward hasn't ever been particularly bad for the South Londoners, it would probably be fair to describe much of his time at Selhurst Park as underwhelming. Before this season, he had scored just ten goals and provided a single assist in 67 appearances.
However, this year, the 26-year-old has finally shown the kind of form that piqued Palace's interest in the first place, scoring 14 goals and providing five assists in 36 games, meaning that he's averaging a goal involvement every other game.
Competition
Premier League
FA Cup
League Cup
Appearances
34
2
2
Goals
11
0
3
Assists
4
0
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.44
0.00
1.5
This reliable output has seen him become Glasner's first choice in attack, and he's started every game following the former Eintracht Frankfurt boss' arrival, more than justifying his £50k-per-week wages in the process, which isn't something that can be said about a former Palace striker and flop.
How much Connor Wickham cost Crystal Palace
The former striker in question is 31-year-old Connor Wickham, who joined Alan Pardew's Palace for around £9m in August 2015 following a mixed – if not underwhelming – season for Sunderland in which he scored six goals and provided one assist in 40 appearances.
Despite his mediocre return for the Black Cats, the Englishman was handed a relatively hefty wage packet worth around £60k-per-week, making him the joint third-highest earner at the club for the 2015/16 season, behind only Emmanuel Adebayor and Yohan Cabaye.
The Hereford-born forward's first season in red and blue was a mixed one. His return of six goals and three assists in 24 appearances wasn't too bad, but he would miss 17 games through injury, and unfortunately for all involved, he would continue to be plagued by injury for the rest of his time south of the river.
In all, the former Ipswich Town gem would miss a whopping 143 games across the six years he spent as a Palace player – including the season he spent on loan with Sheffield Wednesday – while scoring 11 goals and providing five assists in 50 appearances.
Therefore, when adding his £9m transfer fee to the £16.8m he earned in wages during the five seasons he spent at Selhurst Park, he cost Crystal Palace £25.8m, or £516k-per-appearance, £2.3m-per-goal, or £5.1m-per-assist.
Transfer Fee
£9m
Wages (Total)
£60k (£16.8m)
Total Cost
£25.8m
Appearances
50
Cost per Appearance
£516k
Goals
11
Cost per Goal
£2.3m
Assists
5
Cost per Assist
£5.1m
Goal Involvements
16
Cost per Goal Involvement
£1.6m
Ultimately, while Wickham was undeniably unlucky when it came to injuries, it would be impossible to describe his time at Palace as anything other than a failure, and by extension, his transfer was a flop.
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