Neal Maupay is not vengeful. Sidelined for several months at Olympique de Marseille, the striker did not hesitate to have sympathetic words for Roberto De Zerbi, appointed this week at the head of Tottenham. Asked by Sky Sportsthe former Everton player said all the good things he thinks of the Italian coach. “Yes, I know him quite well now and I think he’s a great signing for Tottenham. He loves football, he is very particular about tactics. And football is his whole life. He lives for football. He breathes football. It could be an asset. The only problem is that there are still 7 or 8 matches left and what he wants to implement takes time, you know, for the players to get used to it. So it will be interesting, I imagine. But if they manage to keep up, for me he’s a fantastic signing for Tottenham.”
In the midst of a storm in England, where Spurs fans criticize him for his support for Mason Greenwood, RDZ was able to count on the unexpected support of Maupay. A player that he has used very little this season in Marseille. Placarded, the Frenchman, who no longer entered into his plans and those of management only a year after his arrival, had remained. Sent with the reserve for a meeting in November, he finally returned to the pro group at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. On the bench several times, he participated in 3 matches in all competitions, for a total playing time of 90 minutes (1 goal). Too little for the 29-year-old footballer. When the winter transfer window came, he finally agreed to leave, just to regain playing time and confidence. And it was on the Seville side that he bounced back.
Sevilla are not satisfied
“FC Sevilla and Olympique de Marseille have reached an agreement for the loan of Franco-Argentinian striker Neal Maupay until the end of the season, accompanied by a purchase option”we could read in the press release published on January 27. A few days later, on February 2, he played his first minutes in Andalusian colors against Mallorca as a starter. He even scored his first goal despite the 4-1 defeat. He then followed up with 3 starts against Girona (90 minutes), Deportivo Alavés (70 minutes played) and Getafe (80 minutes). But subsequently, he was not present in the squad to face Betis. He also missed the match against Rayo Vallecano due to a hip injury. Back, he played 45 minutes in the 5-2 defeat against FC Barcelona before finding a place in the starting lineup against Valencia (90 minutes played).
More than two months after his departure from OM, Maupay therefore has a record of 6 matches played (454 minutes, 5 starts) for just 1 goal. Which is considered meager on the other side of the Pyrenees. If his great start was welcomed in Spain, the sports press now has more doubts and reservations about him. This is the case ofEstadio Deportivo. One of the daily newspapers which follows the Sevillian club explains that it passed in a few weeks “from untouchable for Almeyda, to waiting in the wings with Luis García Plaza”. ED then developed: “in contrast to his time at Marseille, Maupay arrived at Sevilla FC and made 4 consecutive starts, even scoring a spectacular goal for his first match against Mallorca. A mirage. His performances have declined rapidly since then, until the ouster of Matías Almeyda, who only gave him 45 minutes against FC Barcelona and the entire match against Valencia after his injury which deprived him of the Madrid derby against Betis and the match against Rayo Vallecano (…) The 29-year-old striker will now have to convince Luis García Plaza.
A return to OM is increasingly likely
But for A.S.his fate is practically sealed. “Neal Maupay was the only winter recruit for Sevilla FC, a club which had to achieve financial prowess to obtain its loan and whose permanent transfer is, to date, out of the question. Maupay faces an almost impossible task for the rest of the season: convincing the club, through his performances, that recruiting him permanently would be the right decision for the Nervión club, which coveted a player last summer. But to achieve this, he would need a real burst of form (…) Despite limited playing time, Maupay was far from meeting expectations. In addition, his last-minute absence during the derby and the impressive performance of Alexis Sánchez against Betis relegated Maupay to second place against the Chilean in the last weeks of the Matías Almeyda era, one of his main defenders during his recruitment.
A.S. concludes: “What is certain is that, given the financial situation of Sevilla, any transformation other than a radical overhaul would seem superfluous to spend a single euro of the meager resources available to Maupay.” The residents of the Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium therefore do not intend to exercise the €5 million purchase option from Marseillais for the moment. Unless there is a miracle, he will not stay in Andalusia and should therefore return to Marseille, where his contract ends in June 2028, in two years. It seems unlikely that the residents of the Orange Vélodrome will keep him this summer. A fresh start seems to be the trend, unless Neal Maupay finally manages to convince Sevilla. Which is very far from being won, but OM hopes that it will succeed. He still has a few matches to convince whileA.S. speaks of a “mission impossible” for the attacker. But after all, impossible is not French.
