WINDOW STRESSING

JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA saw his dream deadline day move to AC Milan collapse.

- BY JOHN CROSS

The Crystal Palace striker was left in limbo after the Italian giants pulled out of a £30m move following extra medical checks.

Mateta, 28, has been nursing a knee issue and underwent an initial medical, but AC Milan wanted extra tests and then pulled the plug on deadline day.

It was a hammer blow for Mateta who expected to leave Palace in this window and has been at the centre of several transfer bids.

Nottingham Forest had a £35m bid rejected by Palace last week, while Juventus also wanted to do a deal on the basis of an initial loan with an option to make it permanent in the summer.

But Juventus did not revisit the deal after AC Milan pulled the plug to leave Mateta with no option of going back to Palace.