It’s a picture of rage that bears resemblance to a Renaissance painting.

All eyes are fixed on the man with his arms outstretched and the number nine on his back, basking in the anger before him.

Neal Maupay lifts the photograph from the table, looks at himself and then scans the faces in the crowd.

“I never plan a celebration,” he smiles, reliving the moments after he’d rolled home a penalty for Brentford at Elland Road in October 2018.

“I could’ve just gone and celebrated with our fans – they were right by the goal – but I remember the atmosphere was so good that day and I wanted to celebrate in front of the Leeds supporters.

“I like the feeling when you see the ball go into the net and then you have shots of adrenaline through your body.

“It’s like your body is numb and you can’t feel anything; you just react. Everything that goes through your head, you just do it.”

Maupay continues: “If I played in an empty stadium, I would be the same on the pitch. Giving everything all of the time is just me.

“So, I’ve got that fire in me, but if you pour fuel on the fire, that drives me even more.

“There have been games when a fan or a player has said something, and I’ve thought, ‘Just wait. Just wait until we score. Just wait until we win.’ That’s something that really motivates me.

“I hate losing more than I love winning. I can’t lose. If you add an edge – it could be a fan, an opposition player or a referee – I can’t give up. I’m ready to do anything on the pitch to get a goal and a win.

“Now I’m back at Brentford, I want to have fun and make more memories; that’s what will last for the rest of my life.”

Home Away from Home

Maupay first arrived at Brentford as a 20-year-old in July 2017. It was his first move away from France and a giant leap into the unknown.

“I didn’t know where I was going,” he admits. “I didn’t know the club or the country. When I first came, my English was non-existent. Zero.

“At first, I thought it was going to be very hard. It was the first time I had left France and I was going to a country where I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t speak the language and I didn’t know the culture.

“But I couldn’t have asked for a better place. I felt at home straightaway. I came here and everyone was so nice to me and helped me to settle on and off the pitch.”

And it wasn’t just his team-mates that made Maupay feel at ease in west London.

“Griffin Park reminded me of when I made my debut for Nice,” he says. “They have a big stadium now, but at that time they played at Stade du Ray and it was literally Griffin Park! It was the same.

“The fans were so close to you on the touchline. It was small and old but there was that atmosphere - I loved it.”

By the end of January 2018, Maupay had made 27 Championship appearances, 12 of which as a substitute.

Head coach Dean Smith favoured a 4-3-3 system, leaving Maupay to compete with the experienced Lasse Vibe for the right to lead the line.

“Sometimes it was frustrating to not be playing, but I learned a lot during those months,” he insists.

“I scored a few goals coming off the bench. There was less pressure: ‘Neal, you’ve got half an hour, just do what you can.’ I had time to settle and learn.

“On the pitch, the rhythm and the physicality of the game was the main change for me.

“In the Championship it’s 24 teams - Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday every week – so at the start it was hard because you’ve got to be ready for it physically, and at the start I wasn’t ready. It was a bit of shock and I had to adapt.”

Vibe’s departure to Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai in February 2018 placed a greater goalscoring burden on Maupay. And having waited in the wings for six months, the Frenchman was ready to step out into the spotlight.

“That’s what I’d come for and that’s what the plan had been with the club before I came,” he says.

“I couldn’t wait to be that guy - the main striker. That’s what I wanted to be. It was my time.”

Beginning with a close-range finish against Bolton Wanderers on 13 January, Maupay found the net on seven occasions in 15 league matches.

And there is one goal in that batch that stands out from the rest. On 14 April, against a Fulham side in pursuit of automatic promotion to the Premier League, Maupay scored an equaliser with only seconds remaining at Craven Cottage.

“I remember everything,” he smiles. “Yoann [Barbet] crossed it to Florian Jozefzoon at the back post and it came to me right underneath the crossbar.

“I went straight to our fans – the emotion was crazy. It was such a big game for our fans and the club, and the best thing about it was that Fulham at the time, if they had won, would have gone straight to the Prem; because of my goal, they went to the play-offs.

“The whole game, the atmosphere was crazy. When you play at another ground, everyone is against you. When you score, all of a sudden, it’s silent. This is such a nice feeling. I love it.”

Maupay’s rich vein of form during the second half of the 2017/18 season laid the foundations for what was to come.

“It showed everyone at the club that I was capable of being successful in the Championship, because it’s not an easy league at all,” he says.

“When they brought me here, they didn’t know whether I was going to do well and neither did I, so it was really important to show my quality.”

Tragedy and Triumph

A 5-1 demolition of Rotherham United in the August sunshine set the tone for the opening weeks of the 2018/19 campaign.

Maupay netted twice against the Millers and added six goals in his next seven Championship outings, rekindling his relationship with Saïd Benrahma who had followed him from Nice to Brentford that summer.

Benrahma’s though ball that led to the first of Maupay’s two goals against Wigan Athletic in September was one of six assists he laid on for the striker that season, making it the most productive assist-to-goalscorer partnership in the second tier.

“I’m still waiting for my bonuses from Saïd signing for Brentford because I was a big part of it,” Maupay laughs. “I need to talk to Phil [Giles] about this; I want my agent fee!”

Following a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town in mid-September, Brentford sat third in the table.

However, a 3-1 defeat to Derby County the following weekend signalled an end to the Bees’ impressive start.

When Thomas Frank took the reins in October following Dean Smith’s departure to Aston Villa, he inherited a team winless in five matches.

Brentford won only one of Frank’s first five games in charge – a 2-0 victory over Millwall on 3 November – before tragedy struck later that month.

Robert Rowan, the club’s technical director and a hugely influential figure at Jersey Road, died unexpectedly in the early hours of Monday 12 November at the age of 28. Brentford was a club in mourning.

“We weren’t in a good place,” Maupay recalls, sat inside Brentford’s new performance centre that bears Robert’s name.

“Rob did such a fantastic job for the club, and he was one of the first people I met when I arrived. He will always be part of this club and in our thoughts.

“It was a tough period for everyone, but that’s what I love about Brentford – the club loves its people.”

On 22 December, Maupay scored the only goal of the game as the Bees - who began the day in 19th - beat Bolton at Griffin Park. It was the side’s first win in seven matches and kickstarted a six-game unbeaten run. Things were beginning to click again.

“We knew that it was going to be hard after a change of manager, but Thomas knew us and we knew him,” says Maupay. “It was just a matter of time – that’s what I always thought. We just needed a bit more confidence and that win set off the second half of the season.”

Brentford ultimately finished in 11th thanks to some impressive performances following the turn of the year.

Perhaps the most memorable of these came on 13 February as Dean Smith returned to Griffin Park for the first time with his Aston Villa side.

With the game goalless heading into stoppage-time, Maupay – who Frank described as a ‘beast’ after the full-time whistle - shimmied into space in the visitors' box before steering home in front of the Ealing Road stand.

More than four years on, it’s a night he still remembers vividly.

“We didn’t really talk about Dean Smith [in the build-up to the game]; we knew that he knew everything about us,” says Maupay.

“We believed that we were the better team, and that we had the better players.

“[Smith] left us to go to Villa, so in my head as I was like, ‘You’re coming back here, so I’ll make sure you regret that decision.’ That was my thought process going into the game.

“Watching the goal back, the cameraman goes straight onto Dean Smith’s face.

“A last minute-winner under the lights. They were going for the play-offs. It was a very good game.”

Taking Flight

Maupay labels the 2018/19 season as the best of his career so far. He scored 28 goals and registered nine assists, and was named Brentford's Supporters' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year.

It came as no surprise, then, that the Frenchman was attracting interest from elsewhere.

On 5 August 2019, it was confirmed that Maupay had left the club to join Brighton and Hove Albion.

“It was the right time for everyone,” he says. “I had a chance to play in the Premier League and that was massive for me. As a French player coming to England, it was a bit of a dream, really.

“If I hadn’t had the opportunity to go to the Premier League with Brighton, I would have stayed. I didn’t leave because I wanted to leave the club; I left because I thought it could be the chance of my life.”

Maupay scored eight goals in 28 league games for Graham Potter’s side before football - and the country - ground to a halt in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 20 June 2020, Brighton resumed their season against Arsenal. Nicolas Pépé fired the Gunners into the lead with just over 20 minutes to go at the Amex, but Lewis Dunk scrambled an equaliser over the line before Maupay’s composed finish in the fifth minute of stoppage-time capped off a remarkable comeback.

Bernd Leno had been taken off on a stretcher in the first half after landing awkwardly following an aerial challenge with the Frenchman.

And Maupay’s role in the incident angered Leno’s team-mates, some of whom surrounded the striker at full-time.

“It was a crazy game,” says Maupay. “Leno got injured on a contact with me. The ball was played through, he came off his line to catch it and I jumped for the ball. I was a bit late, but I went for the ball, and we clashed in the air. As he landed, he twisted his knee.

“When you watch the video, you can see it’s a normal contact, but that started the fire.

“One of the Arsenal players was arguing with everyone in our team – everyone. Talking about some crazy stuff. I thought, ‘Okay, I’m coming for you.’

“Just to clarify, I’m really good with Leno. I texted him and I’ve played against him since. I’m really good with him and there are no hard feelings.”

The match was played behind closed doors, but Maupay still felt the wrath of one of the Premier League’s largest fanbases.

After the game, he was targeted with death threats on social media. A joint investigation by the Premier League and authorities in Singapore identified the culprit as 19-year-old Derek Ng, who was given a nine-month probation order. It was the first prosecution outside the UK for abuse of a Premier League player.

“I received thousands and thousands of messages – threats,” says Maupay.

“We went to the police and showed them what I’d received. I felt really threatened. The police investigated and the person was found and charged.

“People will tell you that it’s just messages on social media, but you never know. You never know who’s behind the account and what could happen.

“It was important to show people that you can’t just go on social media, create a fake account and say whatever you want. There will be consequences for how you act.”

Maupay continues: “That was a death threat, and with racism it’s the same. There must be consequences. People can’t say and do whatever they want.

“More and more, the Premier League and the clubs are working to report abuse. It must stop.”

A Tough Season

In total, Maupay scored 26 goals in 84 Premier League appearances for Brighton, equalling Glenn Murray's club record in the competition.

The striker had been a regular starter under Graham Potter - a manager he speaks very highly of – but was an unused substitute for four of the final eight games of the 2021/22 campaign.

It was time for a new chapter.

“I’m a man who likes a challenge and at the end of that season I thought it would be a good time for me to try something different,” says Maupay.

“I had a gut feeling, whether it was in England or somewhere else, that I needed a fresh start.”

Maupay signed for Everton on 26 August 2022. The club had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season - finishing only four points and two places better off than Burnley in 18th – and after picking up just three wins in their opening 21 league matches, Toffees fans were beginning to fear the worst.

“It was really tough for us because, when I joined Everton, the fans were already a bit negative about the club and how things were going,” he says.

“I didn’t really arrive at the right moment. We started the season pretty well, but then we lost some games, and the fans had the feeling that the last season could happen again.”

In late January, Frank Lampard was replaced in the dugout by Sean Dyche.

And while Dyche would go on to guide his new side to safety, Maupay found his opportunities extremely limited on Merseyside, starting just four games during the second half of the season.

“The way [Dyche] wants his team to play and his strikers to play is just not me and my qualities,” Maupay continues. “That’s just football. I knew straight away that it was going to be difficult for me.

“I need confidence and rhythm to get my instinct and feeling on the pitch, and I wasn’t getting any time.

“When you play 10 minutes at the end of a game when your team is already losing 3-0, then maybe not again for another two or three games, it’s very hard to get any rhythm and find form.

“It was a tough time and a tough season, but I tried to remind myself that this is football and there are ups and downs. It can’t always be perfect.

“It’s not about what happened; it’s about what’s next for me. That’s my mentality right now.”

Feeling the Love

On Transfer Deadline Day, Brentford announced Maupay’s return to TW8 on a season-long loan, which includes an option to make the transfer permanent.

After a turbulent 12 months, the Frenchman is grateful to be back in familiar surroundings.

“I’m coming back Brentford, to people I know, appreciate and love - and vice versa,” he says.

“Thomas knows me really well, the players know me and the fans know me. I’m in an environment where people believe in me and can see what I’m capable of. The people trust me to do the job, score goals and play well.

“Being back here and seeing the hard work, people, mindset and culture, I can see why it’s grown so fast.

“The club is going in the right direction, and I want to be part of this growth and this history.”

Despite signing for the club in early September, Maupay had to wait eight weeks for his chance to run out the Gtech as a Brentford player.

The Frenchman shone on his second home debut, combing brilliantly with Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in a new-look front three as the Bees beat Burnley 3-0.

Thomas Frank rightly hailed his attacking trio as 'very sharp' and his side's 23 shots on goal, to Burnley's six, tell the tale of an impressive front-foot performance.

Maupay concludes: “The most important thing is that when I’m here, I feel like me. I can be myself and I can express my feelings. I can play how I want to play. We’re pulling in the same direction and working together.

“When I first came here, I was 20, I was a kid, and people helped me to develop as a player and as a man. The people here have known me from the start.

“I want to get back to where I was before I joined Everton. I want to play with confidence and score goals because I miss this feeling.

“I want to have good moments on the pitch, whether I score or not. Late wins, last-minute goals, celebrations with the fans. I want to be in a winning environment and if I can score goals, it will be the cherry on the cake.”