Crystal Palace have converted Jean-Philippe Mateta's loan from Mainz into a permanent deal.
The 24-year-old striker, who arrived at Selhurst Park on an initial 18-month loan last January, has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee in the region of £8million.
Mateta's original loan deal included an obligation for the Eagles to purchase him from Bundesliga side Mainz for around £13million dependent on him making a certain number of starts. That figure has not been reached, meaning Palace have been able to negotiate a lower fee for the forward.
It is the first piece of transfer business Patrick Vieira has been able to complete so far this window, with the Frenchman hoping to add to his squad before Monday's deadline shuts at 11pm.
“I’m happy. I want to say thank you to the gaffer [Patrick Vieira], he trusted in me," said Mateta.
"And [thank you to] Dougie [Freedman], the Chairman [Steve Parish] and the team and the fans also, and my family."
Mateta has come into form in recent weeks after initially struggling to hold down a place in Vieira's team.
The Frenchman started Palace's opening day fixture at Chelsea but went on to play just four minutes of their next 17 Premier League games, finally getting back on the pitch when he came off the bench against Spurs on Boxing Day.
A run of four successive league appearances followed plus an outing against Millwall in the FA Cup, with Mateta taking his chance by scoring twice and setting up another during those games.
Speaking about his time at Crystal Palace so far, Vieira said earlier this month: "I think it’s been really challenging for him. Since he’s been at this football club, he’s not had that much chance to play.
"But every time the team needed him to perform, he gave his best. He was rewarded by a couple of goals he scored.
"Physically I think he needed to get back to his best. I think there are still a couple of steps to go, but to go through those steps, you need to play games."
