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Maupay move to Everton inching closer but not in time for weekend

By Matt Townsend

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 21: Neal Maupay of Brighton & Hove Albion warms up prior to kick off of the Premier League match between West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion at London Stadium on August 21, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 21: Neal Maupay of Brighton & Hove Albion warms up prior to kick off of the Premier League match between West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion at London Stadium on August 21, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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It looks more and more likely that Everton will finally be signing the new forward we’ve all been desperately waiting for as a deal for Brighton’s Neal Maupay edges nearer.

Sky Sports were claiming Everton might actually get the move completed by today’s midday deadline for him to play tomorrow, but that doesn’t appear to have happened, at least not at the time of writing.

This will mean the Toffees’ go into the match at Brentford still lacking that cutting edge up front. That’s not good and as I suggested in my match preview, I don’t think the Blues can win tomorrow’s game without that additional goal-scorer.

It’s very frustrating to see Everton go into their fourth match of the season still without any more forward threat and having only managed one point and one goal through their own efforts so far. But, that’s where we are.

So, is Maupay the right man for the job?

To be perfectly honest, I really don’t know. The Frenchman has decent goal-scoring stats in English football with a peak of twenty-five netted in the 2018-19 season.

That though was in the Championship and since Brighton’s promotion to the Premier League he has found goals harder to come by.

He hasn’t featured his season for the Seagulls and it appears that Graham Potter is now willing to let him leave the South Coast club, despite his having been a key part of his forward line.

At 26 he’s the right sort of age and does possess pace and good finishing ability, plus he can play in several positions including a wider attacking role.

This would perhaps enable him to fill in the sort of area of the attack that Richarlison generally operated in during his spell on Merseyside.

I’m not sure if Maupay can provide that additional threat and much-needed goals for this Everton team but it’s getting to a point where almost anyone who has scored a few times in top flight football anywhere in Europe, will do.

We have to wait and see again if this deal does actually go through. Given how long it seems to get these transfers sorted and the fact of often premature media reports, I still wouldn’t bet on it actually happening.

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