Ex-Everton employee predicts ‘limitations’ for Goodison loanee Neal Maupay after recent development
Goodison News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent over eight years as a scout at Everton and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent six years on Tottenham’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells…
Bryan King believes Everton loanee Neal Maupay will have “limitations” at Brentford upon the return of their star striker Ivan Toney.
The latter can restart his senior career on Wednesday (January 17) following an eight-month ban for breaching betting rules [talkSPORT, 12 January].
Maupay meanwhile is currently on a season-long loan at the West London club from the Toffees, moving to the Bees last September.
Speaking to Goodison News, King said: “I think Maupay will have limitations at Brentford now that Toney is back, that’s for sure. I can see him coming back to Everton.
“These players, if they move and they do good things at their clubs, then it’s up to the clubs to control these situations, not the players or the agents.
“There are 11 places in a football team, if you’re lucky enough to be playing, whether through injury or lack of form, and somebody moves ahead of you, then your job is to win your place back, not start crying out that you want to leave, or want to pick this or that club to go on loan to.
“Performance, that’s what makes sure you’re in the first team. If you’re not performing, then you can either be a liability or a club and team man, until your loan is over or whatever.”
Things haven’t exactly gone to plan for the striker since his return to the Bees, with Maupay having previously scored 41 goals in 95 games for the club between 2017 and 2019.
This time around the 27-year-old has found the back of the net just three times, following on from his struggles at Everton.
From his 32 appearances since joining the Toffees, the striker managed just one goal, with those struggles undoubtedly behind his loan exit from Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, a BBC Sport pundit has named one Toffees star in his Premier League Team of the Season so far.