Aston Villa bid for Jean-Philippe Mateta 'considerably short' of valuation

Aston Villa have made an offer 'considerably short' of the valuation of Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, reports insider David Ornstein.

Villa are hopeful of landing a new attacker this summer. Ollie Watkins refusing to train or play the first game of the season - a 4-0 loss to Brighton - has not helped things, though he's now back in the mix.

But even before his saga with Al-Hilal began, Villa were looking to add new attacking talent to the squad.

Currently, there's interest in the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Rafael Leao, while Mateta has now been the subject of a Villa approach.

Ornstein reports for The Athletic that Villa made an offer for the Palace striker, which 'fell considerably short' of their valuation.

Mateta is not believed to be enamoured by staying at Selhurst Park, where he argued to the Premier League that the final year of his contract wasn't valid after the Eagles triggered a further year.

However, the report suggests Mateta's contract with Palace is valid and he will therefore remain their player until next summer unless he's prised away.

It's not clear what the value of Villa's bid was, but they have had issues getting a few players through the door this summer.

A second bid for Southampton centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis was recently turned down, with the defender one of the players wanted as a replacement for Ezri Konsa, who's gone to Arsenal.

Aston Villa's striker options

With no striker available on Sunday, Villa used both Ross Barkley and then Emi Buendia up top. They failed to have a single shot on target.

On his strikers, Unai Emery has said: “[Brian] Madjo has a small injury and I think he can get progressively better and start training with us as well, but he may need some days more.

“Tammy Abraham as well, he has a small injury and he is going to join us again. Hopefully we have strikers ready to play [soon], but this can happen.”

Watkins has also returned to training, having been refusing to do so of late, which saw him miss the Brighton game. The Englishman is awaiting a transfer to Al-Hilal and has seemingly attempted to force that move.

But it's said he's apologised to team-mates upon his return to training, and could therefore be available for Villa if he's not sold before the next game, and beyond then if he doesn't leave at all.