Neal Maupay

Neal Maupay (born 14 August 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. Maupay came to prominence in his homeland with Nice, Saint-Etienne and Brest and was a France youth international. He is also adept as an attacking midfielder or winger.

Club Career

Nice

Maupay began his youth career at US Valbonne at age six in 2002, before moving into the Nice academy in 2007. He progressed through the ranks into the reserve team at the beginning of the 2012–13 season, scoring four goals in three early-season matches before receiving his maiden call into the first team squad on 15 September 2012, for a Ligue 1 match versus Brest. At age 16 years and 32 days, Maupay made his professional debut as an injury-time substitute for Eric Bautheac during the 3–2 win. He was a regular inclusion in the first team squad from October 2012 through to March 2013 and signed a new two-and-a-half year contract in January 2013. Maupay's season was ended by a torn cruciate ligament suffered during a reserve match on 14 April 2013. Maupay made 19 appearances and scored four goals during the 2012–13 season and when making his Ligue 1 debut and scoring his first Ligue 1 goal, he became the second-youngest player to achieve both feats.

Despite his breakthrough into the first team squad during the 2012–13 season and after recovering from injury, Maupay was out of favour with manager Claude Puel during 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons, which ultimately caused his departure in August 2015. He made 53 appearances and scored 9 goals during three seasons as a first team player at the Allianz Riviera.

Saint-Etienne

On 10 August 2015, Maupay transferred to Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne on a four-year contract for a €500,000 fee. Despite making 23 appearances and scoring three goals during the 2015–16 season, he departed on loan for the duration of 2016–17 and left the club in July 2017.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Нил Мопе (russian)