🔵 Royal Blue: Why Everton decided to move for Neal Maupay
With his ties to Everton set to end, we take a look at what was supposed to happen after a move that all parties agree was a failure
Hello, and welcome to the third edition of the Royal Blue newsletter. Every Wednesday I will provide in-depth insight into the major talking points - on and off the pitch - at Everton FC.
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You might also know Royal Blue from the podcast of the same name. Here’s the most recent episode, in which we discuss the latest transfer news ahead of a busy summer for the Blues.
It was not meant to be like this
In November 2022 I was sitting in a hotel library on the other side of the world with Neal Maupay. For an hour, we spoke of the challenges of his first few months at Everton and his desperation to overcome them.
Most football supporters know him as the wind-up merchant whose antics you love to hate. In person, he is articulate, passionate and, amid Everton’s tour Down Under, he was at pains to stress how privileged he felt to have a chance at such a prestigious club.
The 30 months since our chat could not have gone any worse. He never added to the solitary goal he scored weeks after joining - the match-winner against West Ham United that hinted at brighter things for the forward.
He had chances that season and at the start of the next before his loan move to Brentford. But when he signed for Marseille 10 months ago, he set fire to his connections with Everton with a series of pointed, unnecessary social media digs.
I wrote this week that it was a savvy piece of work by then director of football Kevin Thelwell that allowed Everton to send Maupay to the south of France with an obligation for the stay to be permanent that saw the Blues claw back £6m for an unwanted player.
So I thought it made sense to follow that up by trying to answer a question that has been repeatedly asked over the past two seasons: Why on earth did Everton sign Maupay in the first place?
A cruel end to a tough summer
The summer of 2022 started with hope. Everton had survived relegation with that incredible comeback victory over Crystal Palace and the season ended with the stands and dressing room united under Frank Lampard and a sense Everton had escaped a one-off, nightmare year that would not be repeated.
That belief soon evaporated though. Richarlison was sold at a cut price to help with financial issues and then the hammering suffered to Minnesota United over in the US woke everyone to the reality that Everton were, in fact, a team in trouble. That night in the North Star State was grim enough for Lampard to acknowledge a relegation battle would likely lie ahead without serious reinforcements.
In fairness, a busy summer of transfer activity followed and, while a survival battle still played out, the arrivals of the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Dwight McNeil and James Tarkowski would go on to prove significant for the club.
Yet not everywhere could be strengthened and a lot of hope was placed on Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had looked strong that pre-season after the injury issues of the previous campaign, staying fit. When he pulled up injured on the eve of the season, Everton were in tough spot.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking. Viktor Gyokeres was yet to leave Championship side Coventry City and become one of the most feted strikers in Europe - why did Everton not pounce?
The reason is the same that most other Premier League sides who also let the moment pass by will share when pressed: Gyokeres’ camp was signalling hard that Europe was the preferred destination and it became clear that pursuing him, at least for Everton at the time, was not going to end in success. He later moved to Sporting and has, while in Portugal, well and truly established himself.
With the window coming to a close, money tight (though there was a belief some was available amid a failure to foresee how serious the implications of brewing PSR problems were) and Lampard and Thelwell without a forward, Maupay came into focus.
This was a player who was affordable, available, always fit (not to be sniffed at in that injury-blighted squad) and one who had a history of goals in the Premier League. Not lots. But at Brighton and Hove Albion he had scored at least eight times in each of the previous three top flight campaigns.
The hope was that, once Calvert-Lewin returned to fitness, Maupay could either play off the forward or come on for him late in games to pester the opposition - as he did so effectively as Everton held on to the 1-0 win over Arsenal in Sean Dyche’s first game as boss. There was also a feeling that, given the World Cup that year stunted the first half of the season, the January transfer window would provide another chance to rectify any issues before the halfway point of the campaign.
The plan clearly had holes in it. It relied on Calvert-Lewin avoiding further injury issues and on Everton being able to adapt to Maupay in his absence. Both were gambles that did not pay off. The following January transfer window was not a positive one, either.
But as poorly as Maupay’s move turned out, there was some logic, and a degree of necessity, behind the move. He has scored elsewhere - six times in the Premier League on loan at Brentford and four with Marseille last season - suggesting the struggle was not all his fault.
But his failure to take big chances (think that opening game of 2023/24 against Fulham) means he has to look at himself too, at least when he is not provoking chaos.
💬 My favourite quote of the week
Everton’s new stadium has like a flying saucer feel to it with the silver bar on the outside and Soldier Field kind of has the same effect. It’s a newer stadium on the inside but the exterior has the original pillars, these massive Roman-style columns, and it looks like the Colosseum.
Driving up to Everton’s new stadium, it’s on the water (River Mersey) and the Bears’ stadium is on the water (Lake Michigan). The old dock wall around Everton’s new stadium gives it character and it just looks really cool and gives it an industrial look, it’s a great design, I’m really looking forward to coming back and going to a game.
Those were the words of Chicago Bears NFL legend Charles Tillman, who was visiting the Hill Dickinson Stadium as part of promotional work for the outfit, whose Soldier Field home Everton will play at when they visit the Windy City later this summer.
Everton’s new home is special and it is nice to hear stars from other sports acknowledge how grand the stage is for the Blues’ new adventure.
⭐ From the archive
It will be five months on Thursday since Everton secured their first win of David Moyes’ second stint with that rip-roaring 3-2 win over Spurs.
That was a big moment in restoring belief at the club and supercharging the positive form that quickly took the Blues away from the bottom three. What a goal by Iliman Ndiaye too. This was my report from the final whistle.
⚽ Plenty of you spotted that, in last week’s edition of Royal Blue, I suggested we might be busy on August 9. Well, this is why. The final test event will be the first pre-season friendly at the new stadium. With TFG sister club Roma in town, it means the first friendly opponents at Hill Dickinson will be the same club that were the last friendly opponents at Goodison.
It’s all starting to feel very… real.
📰 Everton noticeboard
🎓 This was a really important announcement that slipped under the radar slightly over recent days, but I think it is great news that Goodison Park will become home to Everton Football College. Imagine studying inside the Grand Old Lady, wow
🤝 New Everton CEO Angus Kinnear was among the club chiefs who met representatives of the Everton Fan Advisory Board recently. That’s a high-profile appearance that hopefully shows the club plans to continue to hold a strong relationship with the FAB, which has been an important voice and is currently holding elections.
🏆 Everton are in the hunt for silverware later this month with Everton In Ihe Community’s side set to face Chelsea in the Amputee Cup Final at St George’s Park. The match will take place at 10am on Saturday, June 28 and will see Everton try to win back the trophy they last won in 2023. They beat Portsmouth that year, who they then lost 3-2 against 12 months ago.
🚪 Behind-the-scenes
I’m pleased to be able to say the ECHO will be covering Everton’s tour to the USA this summer in full. We will be present at every one of the three games in the Premier League Summer Series, maintaining a long streak of being the only outlet to be present at every match, competitive or not. My colleague Chris Beesley will be in New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta, so we will have plenty to keep you updated with.
Thanks for reading. My name is Joe Thomas and I’m the Everton correspondent for the Liverpool Echo. I travel home and away to watch the Blues and speak to players, staff and, of course, David Moyes, on a regular basis. My ambition here is to give you a glimpse at life at the club that you can trust and value.
The Royal Blue newsletter is not a place for match reports and player ratings. It is a specially crafted effort to take you beyond the headlines and behind-the-scenes.
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