In The Spotlight: Neal Maupay, Brighton & Hove Albion
Right, here goes. What do we know about Neal Maupay?
Welcome to the first of many instalments of my article for ‘A Football Life’. I’ve been travelling the country for over 20 years as a fan and scout, frequenting 62 of the current 92. I will be discussing all topics from the point of view of a normal football fan.
Enough about me… on to my first article.
I had the delight of joining a close friend, and Wolves fan, in attending last weekend’s game away at Brighton. Fresh from a wonderful local craft beer I was given a display in superb centre forward play by Neal Maupay of Brighton.
This was the first time I’d had the pleasure of seeing him play live and left the Amex surprisingly impressed.
I knew a bit about him, that he started his career in France and was linked with a number of top European clubs as a teenager. Having scored goals at all youth levels for France he never lived up to this interest and after spells at Nice and St Etienne he found his way to West London and joined Brentford for £1.6 million. As a relative unknown he soon started to impress the Bees fans with his hard work, speed and finishing ability. With 45 goals in 95 games to his name, Brighton decided to part with £20 million to make him the spearhead of their attack.
At 5’8 he’s hardly the most physical centre forward that Premier League centre backs will play against, but he uses his frame and movement to his advantage.
Constantly buzzing around the back three, he can drop deep and link up play or he can pop off the shoulder of the centre back and play in behind. Proving a constant threat to the Wolves defence he could easily have bagged a goal early on, with only a smart save from Rui Patricio denying him.
On 34 minutes, a long, ranging ball over the Wolves defence from Dale Stephens found Maupay alongside the Wolves centre back in a foot race. Running away from goal and on his so-called weaker foot, Maupay unleashed a firmly struck half volley that caught Patricio by surprise at his near post. An excellent finish that instantly reminded me of Jermain Defoe in his prime. Getting your shot off early can easily catch the keeper off guard, and this takes instinct. Maupay backed his ability and took his total to 6 goals for the season.
For the rest of the game, I watched as he caused the Wolves defence a number of problems and could easily have bagged the winner, denied only by the Portuguese stopper.
It’s difficult to say whether he has reached his summit with Brighton and whether he could play for one of the countries top 6 clubs or not.
There is certainly a lot to like and if I had to compare his playing style to another top centre forward from the past I would probably go for Carlos Tevez.
I will be keeping an eye on him throughout the rest of the season and wouldn’t be surprised to see his name linked with some top clubs in the next two or three transfer windows.
Until next time.
R
