Neal Maupay

Neal Maupay (born 14 August 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Club Everton.

Maupay started his career with Nice and was a France youth international.

Nice
Maupay began his youth career at US Valbonne at age six in 2002, before moving into the Nice academy in 2007. He progressed through the ranks into the reserve team at the beginning of the 2012–13 season, scoring four goals in three early-season matches before receiving his maiden call into the first team squad on 15 September 2012, for a Ligue 1 match versus Brest. At age 16 years and 32 days, Maupay made his professional debut as an injury-time substitute for Éric Bauthéac during the 3–2 win. He was a regular inclusion in the first team squad from October 2012 through to March 2013 and signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract in January 2013. Maupay's season was ended by a torn cruciate ligament suffered during a reserve match on 14 April 2013. Maupay made 19 appearances and scored four goals during the 2012–13 season and when making his Ligue 1 debut and scoring his first Ligue 1 goal, he became the second-youngest player to achieve both feats. His first Ligue 1 goal came in the stoppage time of a 3–2 win over Evian, aged 16 years and 123 days, to be the youngest scorer in the 21st century.

Despite his breakthrough into the first team squad during the 2012–13 season and after recovering from injury, Maupay was out of favour with manager Claude Puel during 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons, which ultimately caused his departure in August 2015. He made 53 appearances and scored nine goals during three seasons as a first team player at the Allianz Riviera.

Saint-Étienne
On 10 August 2015, Maupay transferred to Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne on a four-year contract for a €500,000 fee. Despite making 23 appearances and scoring three goals during the 2015–16 season, he departed on loan for the duration of 2016–17 and left the club in July 2017.

Loan to Brest
On 20 July 2016, Maupay joined Ligue 2 club Brest on a season-long loan. He had a good start to the 2016–17 season, scoring 10 goals in his opening 21 matches, winning the August 2016 UNFP Ligue 2 Player of the Month award and receiving nominations in September, October and December. Injuries in December 2016 and February 2017 disrupted Maupay's good form and he finished the season with 12 goals in 31 appearances.

Brentford
On 14 July 2017, Maupay moved to England to join Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £1.6 million. The club's France scout Brendan MacFarlane, who would also go on to identify Saïd Benrahma, Julian Jeanvier and Bryan Mbeumo, played a key role in the identification of the player as a target. He was deployed as a forward and scored three goals in his opening six appearances for the club, with his first goal coming in a 4–3 defeat to Nottingham Forest on 12 August 2017. By mid-December, Maupay was considered the best "super-sub" of 2017–18 Championship season so far, with four of his five league goals having been scored during substitute appearances. He broke into the starting lineup during the protracted transfer of first choice forward Lasse Vibe away from Griffin Park in January 2018 and he assumed the role full time after Vibe's departure early the following month. Maupay showed improved goalscoring form between mid-January and mid-April, with a run of seven goals in 15 matches. He finished the 2017–18 season with 46 appearances and as the club's top-scorer, with 13 goals.

Maupay had an excellent start to the 2018–19 season and scored 13 goals in his first 17 league appearances. Five goals in August 2018 and four in September led to nominations for the August PFA Fans' Championship Player of the Month and the September EFL Championship Player of the Month awards respectively. Maupay won the EFL Player of the Year award at the 2019 London Football Awards, after he scored 18 goals in 30 appearances by the end of January 2019. He finished a mid-table season with 28 goals in 49 appearances and was voted the Brentford's Supporters' and Players' Player of the Year.

2019–20 season: Debut season
On 5 August 2019, Maupay moved to Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on undisclosed terms, for a fee reported to be in the region of £20 million on a four-year deal. Maupay scored on his debut in the opening match of the 2019–20 season, Brighton's third in a 3–0 away win over Watford. On 14 September, Maupay opened the scoreline in a 1–1 draw against Burnley, claiming his first home goal for the Sussex club. Maupay scored his 10th goal of the season in a 1–1 away draw against Southampton on 16 July 2020, helping Brighton earn an important point towards safety.

2020–21 season
Maupay opened his scoring tally on the second game of the season scoring two inside the first seven minutes in an eventual 3–0 away win over Newcastle United. On 26 September, Manchester United were given a penalty after the final whistle due to VAR deeming Maupay to have committed handball right at the end. Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty with United winning the match 3–2; Maupay also scored a penalty himself earlier on in the game in Panenka style. Maupay was sent off after the full time whistle on 9 May in a 2–1 away loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers for confronting the referee, Jonathan Moss. As a result, Maupay missed the last three games of the season.

2021–22 season
Maupay equalised against Burnley on 14 August in the opening game of the 2021–22 season, a 2–1 away win on Maupay's 25th birthday. On 27 September, away at rivals Crystal Palace, Maupay scored an added-time equaliser in a 1–1 draw. After seven games without scoring, Maupay scored his fifth goal of the season on 1 December away at West Ham United, an acrobatic overhead kick in the 89th minute to earn a 1–1 draw. Maupay's opener in the 2–0 away victory over Watford on 12 February 2022 was his 26th Premier League goal for the Albion, equalling Glenn Murray's club record. Maupay's form was under question during the second half of the season with inconsistency and a lengthy goal drought. He was dropped for fixtures against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur after missing a penalty in the 0–0 home draw against Norwich City on 2 April. Graham Potter defended the Frenchman saying "he's been fantastic", calling Maupay "a fantastic team player" who's been "really professional in training." After being left on the bench for both North London fixtures he returned to the starting line-up on 24 April, playing 85 minutes of the 2–2 home draw against Southampton.

Everton
Maupay signed for Premier League club Everton on 26 August 2022 on a three-year contract with an option of a further year for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 3 September, playing the whole match of the goalless Merseyside derby draw with Liverpool at Goodison Park. His only goal for Everton came in a 1–0 win against West Ham United.

Loan return to Brentford
On 1 September 2023, Brentford announced that they had re-signed Maupay on a season-long loan deal.

He netted his first goal in 14 months on 4 November 2023, as he opened the scoring in a 3–2 home win against West Ham United.

International career


Maupay won 35 caps and scored 16 goals for France at U16, U17, U19 and U21 level. He was a member of France's 2015 UEFA European U19 Championship squad and made two appearances in the tournament. He has yet to be called up to the France men's team.

He is also eligible to play for the Argentina national team through his mother. In February 2022, Maupay reportedly put in a personal request to Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni to consider selecting him for the national team. However, despite making a personal request, Maupay is yet to have received a call up or made an appearance for the Argentina team.

Style of play
Maupay's footballing idol is Zinedine Zidane. He stated that he "can play out wide or as a number 10, but my favoured position is striker. I like to play down the middle and use my pace to get in behind defences" and "I'm used to looking after the ball and holding off defenders".

Personal life
Maupay was born in Versailles and moved to the Côte d'Azur with his family at age five. He is of Argentinian descent on his mother's side and holds both French and Argentinian nationalities since 2013. He has the habit of reading in the locker room before matches.

In June 2020, Maupay was targeted with death threats after scoring a last-minute winning goal against Arsenal. A joint investigation by the Premier League and authorities in Singapore identified the culprit as 19-year-old Derek Ng, who was given a nine-month probation order. This was the first prosecution outside the UK for abusing a Premier League player.

Honours
Individual
 * UNFP Ligue 2 Player of the Month: August 2016
 * London Football Awards EFL Player of the Year: 2018–19
 * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 2018–19
 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 2018–19