St Etienne face a new obstacle to completing a deal for Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.

ASSE have been in talks with Palace and Mateta's parent club Mainz about taking over the striker's loan this month.

Negotiations initially stalled with Palace insisting they needed to find a replacement before releasing Mateta. However, it then emerged that Palace were now rethinking the deal altogether given Mateta's sudden goalscoring form.

But RMC says a new option is now on the table, with Newcastle United and FC Basel having made contact with Mainz about signing Mateta.

However despite the fresh competition, there remains a confidence inside ASSE that Mateta will end up joining them in January.