Everton transfer update as three teams eye move for Neal Maupay with Goodison Park exit on the cards
Neal Maupay has a surprisingly large market developing ahead of the summer transfer window where the misfiring Everton forward could be sold, according to a report from Tutto Salernitana.
Salernitana have previously been reported as long-term admirers of the Frenchman, with Fabrizio Romano relaying comments from his agent via Twitter on 21 March that they could come back in for him in June.
That appears to be likely on the conditions of there being good sales made of other forwards – Toffees target Boulaye Dia is the leading man – or if on-loan Hertha Berlin striker Krzysztof Piątek remains at the club.
On top of that there is reported interest in former Brighton man Maupay from both elsewhere in Italy and in France, with Torino and Nice named as suitors.
It has been a miserable debut campaign at Goodison Park for the 26-year-old, with one goal all season, and a departure is surely likely whether Everton stay up or not.
Boon
Usually Everton’s issue is having a squad full of players that they can’t shift so it is a positive surprise for there to be so much interest in one who is surely near the top of the list of squad members who won’t be needed next season.
The Toffees’ well-documented deficiencies in attack haven’t improved by swapping the goal-shy Salomon Rondon for the goal-shy Maupay, in the wake of Richarlison’s sale to Tottenham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s extensive injuries.
Spending £15million [BBC Sport, 26 August] on a player who rarely featured as a loan forward at the Amex has proven to be just the latest in a long line of transfer follies, and if Sean Dyche can escape relegation it would be a massive get out of jail free card to sell him on and fix that mistake.
He obviously has to take a share of the blame for underperforming, but he appears to have been anything but the right fit, and being in and out of the team under Frank Lampard and Dyche has been far from conducive to a seamless switch.
A swap deal for Dia, if it can be negotiated, makes a lot of sense, but the presence of multiple clubs from different leagues even raises the prospect of an auction that could push the price up.
It isn’t often that Everton are offered the opportunity to rectify a transfer mistake so quickly, and one which gives them the chance to come out of the transaction on top, so this is surely one they take as a matter of course in the summer window.