Crystal Palace took up the option to turn the French forward’s loan into a permanent deal on the final day of the winter transfer window.
He was on loan at Palace from January last year and despite not pulling up trees at Selhurst Park, the Eagles eventually signed him on a permanent deal earlier this week.
There were question marks over his future and Perrin conceded that Saint-Etienne had a personal agreement with the player to take him back to France in the last winter transfer window.
However, he admitted that the forward eventually signed up with Crystal Palace and Saint-Etienne lost out.
The Saint-Etienne sporting director told French sports daily L’Equipe when asked whether he is disappointed at not signing a striker: “Yes.
“Our order of priority was a striker, a winger and a central defender. The first option on the table was Jean-Philippe Mateta.
“After reaching an agreement with him and staying in constant contact, he started playing and scoring in England.
“Crystal Palace exercised the purchase option of €11m before he played 17 matches.
“Good for him.”
Mateta has featured in the last five league games for Crystal Palace but has only scored once in seven league games.
