Brighton must sign a striker to complement Neal Maupay, not replace him

When do you think those Brighton fans who do not rate Neal Maupay as a centre forward will change their opinions of Le Petit Shithouse Français?

Brighton have scored 14 Premier League goals this season. Maupay is responsible for six of those, which equates to 46 percent.

He has bailed the Albion out of losing to Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Southampton by showing the composure to net 95th, 89th and 98th minute equalisers.

Maupay needs just four more goals to overtake Glenn Murray as Brighton’s highest Premier League goal scorer. 11 more takes him past Michael Robinson as the man with the most top flight goals of anyone in Albion history.

The numbers, the achievements, they all point to one thing – that Maupay is a very underrated footballer by both Albion fans and much of English football.

Most of this comes from his finishing. It is hard to argue with the point of view that Maupay can be wasteful in front of goal. He misses chances that would make even Craig Davies blush and that leads to a lot of understandable frustration.

To focus purely on Maupay’s finishing and judge him on it however is to ignore every other side of his game and how important he is to Brighton.

It is like hating Wetherspoons because Tim Martin is a bit of a prick and ignoring the fact that you can currently buy six pints of Ruddles, four single whiskeys and a bottle of Prosecco
for the same price a three pint round in Brighton costs.

And drink that much and you probably won’t remember Maupay missing from inside the six yard box, so it is a bit of a win-win.

Take Maupay’s late leveller in the 1-1 draw at Southampton as proof of what he brings to the party. It was a strike made possible because of intelligence and awareness.

As Jakub Moder lines up to take the initial free kick, Maupay spots Alex McCarthy summoning James Ward-Prowse to cover the left hand side of the Saints goal.

Maupay takes a little look, realises he can gain four or five yards without being caught offside and so scuttles forward to put himself closer to goal in the event of the ball ending up loose in the box.

Moder duly strikes the wall, returning the ball into the box at the second opportunity. Maupay has put himself front and centre of the goal, completely unmarked, undoubtedly onside and with the time and space needed to fire into the bottom corner.

Maupay’s intelligence is why he is so good at linking play. He reads the game and knows where to go. That is why it is noticeable how many chances he squanders – because he is always in the right place at the right time to squander them. How many other Brighton forwards have you seen occupy so many promising positions?

His work rate stretches defences. Centre backs who face 90 minutes of relentless running from Neal Maupay know that they have been in a game when they walk off at full time after playing Brighton. He tires opponents out and drags them into areas of the pitch which creates space for others.

There is a reason why Danny Welbeck has such a decent goals to games ratio for Brighton. A player of his quality is perfectly suited to take advantage of Maupay doing the donkey work. It is a real shame that injury disrupts their partnership so frequently.

Brighton are a better team when Neal Maupay plays. Compare and contrast the Newcastle United and The Leeds United games for proof. Against the Saudi Sportswashers, Leandro Trossard played as a false nine and the Albion struggled to create too much.

With Maupay back in the team when Leeds came to town, Brighton were dominant on their way to fashioning 20 chances. True, none were taken but the difference in how threatening the Albion looked was obvious.

Then there is what happened when Graham Potter decided to haul Maupay in favour of DJ Jurgen Locadia. The Albion’s strike force barely had a sniff of goal once Maupay was replaced by a bloke who spends his time putting photos of Instagram of himself pensively staring into a fridge.

With Brighton requiring a goal, it was a criminal substitution – especially in light of the late interventions Maupay has subsequently provided in the two subsequent matches. Leave him on the pitch and he might just find the back of the net, no matter how late the hour.

Still, nobody can deny that Brighton need a new striker. Those who think that a £30 million centre forward should be replacing Maupay are barking up the wrong tree, however.

Everything Maupay does screams of a player who should be deployed as a second striker. Ashley Barnes was such an effective foil for Glenn Murray and then Leonardo Ulloa but missed too many chances when asked to take on the scoring burden because Craig Mackail-Smith was struggling.

In the same way, Maupay would thrive even more released from the pressure of being the Albion’s main source of goals. The comparisons to Barnes do not stop there of course.

Like Maupay, there were a lot of Brighton supporters who did not appreciate what Barnes did for the team when he wasn’t busy tripping up referees.

Gus Poyet said last week that Brighton should sign Darwin Nunez. That ship has probably sailed. Nunez’s sparkling form for Benfica since returning from a knee injury means that he is even further out of the Albion’s price range and will be attracting the attentions of better clubs. Manchester City and Manchester United are already rumoured to be taking a look.

The prospect of Maupay playing alongside a forward of Nunez’s ilk though is mouth watering. At his current scoring rate, Neal Maupay is on course to get Brighton 15 Premier League goals this season.

If you add another 15 goal striker alongside him, suddenly the Albion have the firepower to maintain their current spot in the top 10.

This 20 goal a season centre forward Brighton fans talk about is unobtainable for a club not able to spend £50 million or more. A partnership who can deliver 30 goals between them is obtainable.

It should be the job of fans of the 19 other Premier League clubs to hate Maupay. Arsenal, Southampton, West Ham and especially Crystal Palace already do. That some Albion fans don’t like him remains baffling.

He scores goals. He gets under the opposition’s skin. He is a good player. And without him, the Albion would be a lot worse of. Time to respect Maupay – and find him the partner he needs to become even better.