PAY PAL? NOT ME
I’m not here to make friends says Maupay, Brighton’s Mr Mean
NEAL MAUPAY has warned Premier League defenders he is not on the pitch to make friends.
Brighton’s controversial French striker has proved already this season that he can get under the skin of opponents.
He scored the stoppagetime winner against Arsenal last week that saw an infuriated Matteo Guendouzi grab him by the neck (right).
Amazingly, Guendouzi was not punished by the
FA, but was then dropped by the Gunners and his future at the club is now in doubt.
Maupay, whose Albion side have had a good restart with four points from two games to ease their relegation worries, now has Manchester United in his sights at the Amex tomorrow night. He said:
“I don’t have a lot of football friends. In France I have my circle. Some of them are footballers but most of them are not.
“I’m not on the pitch to make friends. As long as I have a really good relationship with my team-mates that is all that matters for me.”
The Brighton marksman has nine goals this term, after joining from Championship side Brentford in the summer, but refuses to set himself targets.
He added: “Strikers already have enough pressure on them to score a lot of goals. “I don’t want to tell myself you are going to score five, 10, 15 goals.
“I just know I need to score a lot and I want to score a lot. I don’t have a number.
“Throughout my career I have been through tough times when I wasn’t playing and wasn’t scoring. I learned a lot about myself and I found a way to stay focussed on my game and my abilities.
“I think day by day and don’t plan anything. Just to try my best every day and to have no regrets – that’s what I do. Work hard and see where it takes me.
“When you are 16 you don’t know what to expect. You don’t know what professional football is about.
“Football is hard and it is a very long journey. I was lucky to start really early, so
I have been able to learn a lot in my time.”