The 23-year-old striker joined Crystal Palace from Mainz on loan earlier this month and the Premier League club have an option to make the move permanent as well.
Crystal Palace had to beat off competition from several clubs in order to sign Mateta as teams such as Marseille also showed an interest in getting the striker.
Mateta conceded that Marseille are a great club and he could have joined them, but he insisted that Palace were motivated to sign him and wanted him more compared to other clubs.
He also pointed out that Marseille decided to sign another striker in the shape of Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli.
Mateta told French magazine So Foot: “Was I ready to join Marseille? Why not!
“They are a great team in the French championship but for one I went to the most motivated, to the club that wanted me more.
“And it was Crystal Palace.
“And in addition, Marseille made another choice.”
Mateta is still waiting to make his debut for Crystal Palace and was not in the squad in their 3-2 defeat to West Ham this week.
