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Thomas Frank is hopeful that Neal Maupay can get his career back on track at Brentford after suffering a complete loss of form at Everton.
Maupay scored just one goal in 30 games after joining Everton from Brighton and Hove Albion in a £15million deal in August 2022.
The 27-year-old re-signed for Brentford on a season-long loan on deadline day and is in line to make his debut against Newcastle United on Saturday [16 September].
But Frank expects Maupay will soon find his feet again for Brentford, for whom he scored 41 goals in 95 appearances in his previous spell at the club.
“I think he had maybe one season where he got 10 goals in the Premier League for Brighton, which is quite good for a first season for any striker,” Frank is quoted as saying by Mirror Football‘s print edition [16 September, page 3].
“I don’t know exactly what happened after that there and at Everton, but it happens sometimes. We often see players drop their level, go to another club, and then get back to their former level. Hopefully, he can do that here.
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“The odds are pretty good that he will be in the squad [versus Newcastle]. He is fit and played a game behind closed doors in the break and scored a goal.”
Second chance
Some transfers just simply do not work out. Not that Everton will want to hear that having spent a fairly sizable sum on Maupay a little over a year ago.
It may well be that Maupay does indeed regain some form and confidence during his season at Brentford, at which point Everton will have the classic ‘new signing’ on their hands next summer.
Alternatively, this loan deal could be about cutting their losses entirely and getting the Frenchman in the shop window in order to recoup as many millions as possible.
As Frank eluded to, it would not at all be surprising if Maupay started banging in the goals again now that he has departed Goodison Park.
On the basis of what he showed during his time on Merseyside, that seems a bit of a pipe dream.
But football works in mysterious ways, and Maupay has been given an unlikely reprieve of sorts to show he is still capable of playing at this level.
In other Everton news, a respectable journalist was stunned by an “insane” development at Goodison Park this week.
