Vieira must unleash £4.5m-rated beast who has shone when CPFC “needed him to perform” - opinion

Crystal Palace are moving ever closer to securing their Premier League status for next season, with Patrick Vieira getting his team playing some impressive football while developing some of the club’s younger talent.

Only Wilfried Zaha has scored more goals than Conor Gallagher, who has eight for the season after joining on loan from Everton at the start of the season. Notably, neither of those are centre-forwards.

Eagles fans would surely have been hoping for more from Odsonne Edouard, who signed for £14m from Celtic last August with big expectations, but having only scored six Premier League goals so far, he still hasn’t nailed down a regular starting spot.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has also struggled to become a regular for Palace since signing permanently from Bundesliga club Mainz for £8m, but Vieira still is putting his faith in the Frenchman.

The former Nice and New York City FC manager said: “Since he’s been at this football club, he’s not had that much chance to play. Since I arrived, with Christian [Benteke] and [Odsonne] Edouard arriving, he had less time.

“But every time the team needed him to perform, he gave his best. He was rewarded by a couple of goals he scored, so he’s there, he’s with us, part of the team and the squad.

“He’s available, as anybody else, and 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.”

Standing at 6 foot 4, Mateta has the potential to become a leading Premier League striker due to his athleticism combined with his size. This season, he has scored just three Premier League goals, but has a scoring frequency of one every 197 minutes – working out at just under one goal for every two 90-minute