Patrick Vieira has said that Christian Benteke would not be leaving Crystal Palace this month and that the player was happy in south London.
The Belgian striker has been touted as a potential transfer target for Burnley this month as they seek to replace Chris Wood following his £25million move to Newcastle.
Benteke first joined the Eagles back in 2016 and at 31 is one of the squad's most senior players having made 157 Premier League appearances and scored 35 top-flight goals for them.
This season he has found the net four times for Palace, including a brace away against Burnley back in November.
When asked in his press conference on Friday if Benteke would be staying at Selhurst Park this month, Vieira said: "Yes. He will be at this football club. Christian loves this football club and he is part of what we are trying to do.
"I shouldn't even have anything to comment about it because it has crossed my mind that there would be a subject there. Christian is a Palace player, he is happy to be here, I am happy for him to be here and we are working together to take the team to a different level."
Another one of Vieira's forward players linked with a move away from south London has been Jean-Philippe Mateta.
The striker, who has scored in recent games against Norwich and Millwall, is one year into an 18-month loan from German outfit Mainz, though has been subject to a lot of interest from Ligue 1.
"This is a period where there is a lot of speculation," added Vieira when asked about Mateta's future.
"For me, it is about the reaction from the players on the field. Mateta is rebuilding his confidence and belief because he is playing more games and physically he is feeling better and better.
"He has shown on the pitch he wants to be part of what we are trying to do and that's good for me, I'm happy with that."
Vieira also fielded questions about potential incomings, with Palace linked with several different names over the last fortnight.
The club were said at one point to be in talks with Arsenal over a move for striker Eddie Nketiah, while Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey has regularly been touted as an option.
Vieira had previously said he was hoping to add some experience to his squad this month and suggested on Friday the club were looking at multiple signings.
"We will try to improve the squad, this is a difficult period to find the right players," he said.
"We are working and trying to improve and if we can bring a couple of players in that will be good for the squad, if not we will keep trying to improve players individually so that we can be a bit stronger collectively."
