Neal Maupay has admitted he didn’t enjoy his football at Everton and has named the fans as one of the reasons for making his life “really difficult.”
Maupay, who is still an Everton player but back at one of his former clubs Brentford on loan, exited Goodison Park on a temporary season-long switch on September 1, which includes an option to make the transfer permanent. The Frenchman netted 41 goals in 95 games in his first spell with the Bees before registering 27 times in 109 outings for Brighton & Hove Albion.
With the Blues looking to increase their options up front in the summer of 2022, director of football Kevin Thelwell and then manager Frank Lampard approved Maupay’s switch for an undisclosed fee, understood to be in the region of £15million with the player signing a three-year contract with an option for a further year. Despite plundering the winner at home to West Ham United on what was only his second game for Everton, his goal against David Moyes’ men on September 18 proved to be the only time he found the net in 32 matches for the club.
Everton condemned personal abuse directed towards Maupay after he spurned a series of golden opportunities in their 1-0 home defeat to Fulham on the opening day of this season. The player took to Instagram following the loss and wrote: “Gutted about the result today, we tried our best but it wasn’t enough. This is what I get for not scoring. No one should ever deal with this.”
Maupay confesses that his time on Merseyside was not an enjoyable one. The 27-year-old told Sky Sports: “I’m not one who is going to find excuses, I just think we as players weren’t good enough – myself included.
“It was pretty clear after a couple of months that we were fighting for our lives, so there was no big expectation apart from saving the club. Then we changed manager, we changed system and there was a lot of stuff going on at the club, so that didn’t help.
“But, at the end of the day, we are on the pitch and we had to do the job. We got it done in the end and it wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t a nice place to be because, on the last game, we needed a win and we scored literally at the end of the game, otherwise we would have been down.
“As a striker, you need confidence, you need to score goals and I didn’t. I scored in my second game at Goodison and I thought it could be a good season, but for multiple reasons, it didn’t work out.
“I didn’t play much, but when I was on the pitch, I wasn’t the best version of myself. I didn’t find my best form.
“I’m always honest and tell the truth; last season, I didn’t enjoy myself. I didn’t enjoy my football and life up there was tough. The people around the club, the fans, made my life really difficult.”
Maupay also scored his first goal back at Brentford against West Ham United and insists he is now feeling better both on and off the pitch, starting from the moment he was presented to the fans by Brentford’s stadium announcer. He said: “It felt amazing, I can't lie. It was such a relief to be in a place where there are people that care about each other and care about me, in a place I love.
“Having basically the whole stadium singing my name and just seeing them happy I was coming back meant a lot for me. I really love this club, I really love these fans.
“I said it before, but when I was in France, this club gave me my chance to come over and play football in England and show my talent. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity.”
With Maupay appearing to have burned his bridges with Everton, he is eager to extend his stay in west London. He said: “I want to stay here for the reasons I said before and also because this club gave me so much, I want to help this club in the Premier League and be part of its history.
“There is something special at this club between the players, the staff and everyone at the club. Everyone loves to be here, loves to work hard and there is very good togetherness, I’m sure we will have success this season.
“I love everyone here at the club and I feel really good. I feel I can be myself here.
“For now, it’s a loan, but I will make sure I do everything I can to prove to Brentford that I can be here and stay a Brentford player for a few more years.”
