Neal Maupay is desperate to succeed at Everton and believes he can play a crucial role in firing the Blues up the Premier League table.
In an exclusive interview with the ECHO, the striker spoke passionately about his determination to do well at Goodison Park and his gratitude to Frank Lampard for the opportunity to play for such an historic club. The 26-year-old accepted the opening weeks of his Everton career had been difficult but added it was important critics acknowledge he is still settling in after joining less than three months and only 10 league games ago.
He added: “I'm very lucky and grateful to be part of this club, it is a massive club. I want to succeed here and I want to help put the club back where it belongs because Everton should be fighting for more than survival. And that's what we are working towards. And we will get there.”
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Maupay joined Everton in a three-year deal completed on August 26, just days before the conclusion of the summer transfer window. His arrival came after Dominic Calvert-Lewin had suffered the knee injury that would rule him out for the start of the campaign and with the Blues already struggling for goals as a result. Bank holiday administrative issues prevented him from playing against Leeds United and so Maupay’s debut came in the Merseyside derby - the sixth league game of Everton’s season. Alisson produced a fine save to stop him from a dream first appearance but he only had to wait until the next match to get his first goal in Royal Blue, scoring against West Ham United to give Everton their first win of the season.
Recalling that moment as the ECHO sat down with him on the fifth floor of the team hotel during the club trip to Australia for the Sydney Super Cup, Maupay said: “It was at Goodison, for all of our fans, which will always be different. It was a great memory for me. And I am looking forward to more… this was my first goal for a new club. My new fans. And it was just great. When you see that ball going into the net and all of a sudden the noise goes from, like, pretty much nothing because nothing's happening to like, boom. It's hard to describe. I think a lot of people try to ask how is it? How does it feel to score a goal? But you can't describe it until you live it, unfortunately. So I'm lucky enough to live those moments.”
Goals have been hard to come by since then - not just for the former Brighton and Hove Albion player but for Everton. Maupay was in and out of the side as Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s rollercoaster battle with injuries continued and is yet to settle in an attack that has appeared disjointed amid the flux caused by new signings, new ideas and the intense pressure of the Premier League.
Maupay has found recent months particularly challenging. His opportunities at Brighton were limited over the summer and he was not involved in the opening games of the side’s season. When he joined Everton he was tasked with both finding match fitness and settling into a new home, club and dressing room at a time when, due to Calvert-Lewin’s injuries and the sale of Richarlison, Lampard had few options other than to immediately turn to him.
Reflecting on the opening days of life on Merseyside - when he was preparing to make his debut at Elland Road before learning he could not play because of bank holiday bureaucracy, he said: “All of a sudden, from one day to another, you sign for another club, and you've got games like three days later. You have got to be ready for it. But you've never played with your teammates, you don't really know them, and you don't know the manager. And so I think it's very challenging because sometimes when you sign early, you've got a whole preseason to get to know each other, to be in shape and just to be ready for the season. But I didn't have that time. I had to be ready straight away and I've been lucky because all my teammates, they've been really, really good with me. The manager, the coaching staff, they really helped me a lot. But you know, you can't rush things. It still takes time to [fit] into the team and feel good about it. So it's a process right? In football and especially in the Premier League you don't have time so you have got to be ready, you've got to deliver straight away.”
Maupay is still integrating into a team that was already in transition before his arrival. After the relegation battle forced Lampard into pragmatism in the closing months of last season, he is now trying to create a more progressive side. He has already moved to four at the back and is trying to change the mindset of wingers who spent much of last year prioritising relieving pressure on a beleaguered defence over creativity. The injuries suffered by Calvert-Lewin have removed Lampard’s focal point, while Anthony Gordon is playing under the weight of pressure to deliver yet still developing at just 21, while Dwight McNeil is still new to the squad having arrived in the summer. The stop-start nature of Calvert-Lewin’s involvement has also made it hard for the squad to focus on how they can best serve Maupay’s different skill set in his absence. Maupay also believes it is important context that he has only been at the club for 10 league games - of the first part of the season, he missed the opening third.
As a result, he believes the World Cup break will help him build relationships with his teammates and when the domestic schedule returns, he hopes he will be able to showcase his ability to the Everton fans. He said: “You don't put 11 players on the pitch and, because they're good players, it will work. I have got to know my teammates. I have got to know Demarai [Gray], I've got to know Anthony, I've got to know Dominic, like how do they play? What do they want? What kind of ball do they want? What kind of run I can make for them? This takes time. I think the break will help because we have a chance to have a few days off for everyone to go home and see family and then we'll be back training. We will have two or three weeks for proper training before Boxing Day [when Everton play Wolverhampton Wanderers] and I think these three weeks will be really important for us, and for me, to put in the work and be ready for the second half of the season.”
It is not just about how he can help his teammates - it is also about how they can help him. How does Lampard get the best from Maupay? According to him: “You know, when you look at my career at Brentford I was playing as a single nine. That's where I scored the most goals in a season for me. Brighton I was playing as a nine. Sometimes we were playing with two. I'm pretty adaptable so I'm here to help the team and to help Everton to have success. So whatever the manager needs, I'm ready for it.”
The Sydney Super Cup was evidence to back up Maupay’s insistence that time will bring success. He was played through twice by his teammates against Celtic and, while neither attack led to a goal, both showed players around him were reading his movement. Then, against Western Sydney Wanderers, he scored and was involved in several intelligent passages of play that hinted at growing understanding between him and those around him. Maupay himself believes those connections are growing, particularly with Gray and Gordon. Calvert-Lewin’s injuries have prevented the pair from working together but Maupay believes “100%” they could form a successful partnership.
While he remains on the hunt for form, Maupay has absolutely no regrets about moving to Everton. He said: “I love it. It's just, at the minute, and I think everyone would agree, the results haven't been what we wanted. But it will come. I know, I know, for a fact. The team that we've got is a very, very good team. If you look at individuals, they have got so much quality. Like I said, it takes time, but it will come.”
And Maupay is confident he can play a vital role in making sure Everton improve when the Premier League returns: “I'm not there yet and I think it will take time but… sometimes it doesn't just go like that. It doesn't have to happen straight away. It is frustrating, don't get me wrong. I'm the first one to want to be more successful, to score more goals to help the team to win more. I'm the first one to want that. I've got to just keep working, I guess, then I know me and I know my teammates, I know my team. I know it will happen. It is just a matter of time. And all I can do is get my head down and work.”
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