Everton Striker Loanee Set to Return to Merseyside
By Marley Pope
With the Premier League season ending, every team will begin working to improve their respective squads in the summer transfer window. This includes making decisions on which players will leave their club whether it be on an expiring contract, an ending loan spell, or being sold to another club.
Brentford, who finished in 16th place on 39 points, has confirmed five players will leave the club in the coming weeks. Among the five is French striker Neal Maupay, who Everton loaned to Brentford at the beginning of the season for one year.
In his second stint with the Bees, Maupay scored eight goals across 30 appearances in all competitions. Brentford have decided not to activate the buy option for the player, citing their signing of 22-year-old Brazilian striker Thiago Rodrigues from Club Brugge for a reported 33.6 million euros.
Maupay's production this season quadrupled his goal-scoring in 2022-2023 where he mustered just two goals across 31 appearances for Everton. His style of play is not suitable to what manager Sean Dyche desires and playing with a talent like Ivan Toney and a different system under Thomas Frank certainly helped Maupay produce.
His eight goals would have tied the leading scorer on the Toffees Dominic Calvert-Lewin. It will be interesting if Dyche can find a role for Maupay given the hard financial strains Everton will have this summer to attempt bringing in new players.
One possibility could be sliding Maupay into a no. 10 type role to play behind the striker and have Abdoulaye Doucoure sit deeper in midfield. Everton are in line to lose several midfielders this summer, including Andre Gomes and Amadou Onana, where Doucoure could help fill that void next season.
I do not think Maupay will play a natural striker role if he remains at the club. Calvert-Lewin ended the season positively and looked like the dominant, aerial forward of old. New signings Beto and Youssef Chermiti fill the rest of the depth chart and have shown some promise, but a lack of goals.
Everton could attempt to sell the 27-year-old to help raise funds, but the price other teams are willing to give is most likely low. According to Transfermarkt, Maupay is worth 12 million euros.
Either way, Maupay's status in the club will be one of many decisions for Everton this summer as they continue to navigate a messy situation from an ownership standpoint and the construction of a new stadium.