There have been some very intriguing signings in this summer transfer window, but Fulham’s pursuit of Neal Maupay has to be considered to be up there with the most interesting.
Fulham spending £15m on a new striker when they already have Aleksandar Mitrovic is somewhat strange enough on the surface, but what is most intriguing about the arrival of Maupay at Craven Cottage is his pre-existing relationship with another of Fulham’s summer signings – Bernd Leno.
Indeed, Leno and Maupay have a history, and, well, it’s fair to say that they don’t see eye to eye.
Maupay famously went in for a challenge with Leno back in 2020 that left the German goalkeeper seriously injured in the aftermath, and, understandably, Leno wasn’t happy after the event, shouting in Maupay’s face as he was being carried off on a stretcher.
Maupay would later apologise to the former Arsenal man, but the Frenchman did have a dig at the other Arenal players after the game, saying:
“The Arsenal players had been talking a lot, I think they got what they deserved in defeat.”
Maupay has long been public enemy number one at Arsenal due to his comments and his history with Leno, but now, he’s going to be playing on the same team as the German, and it will be very interesting to see how they co-exist over in west London.
Of course, both men are professionals, and they’re likely to let bygones be bygones and get on with their football, but this is an intriguing sub-plot that Arsenal fans may want to keep an eye on as their London rivals build their squad.
Maupay and Leno will go from being rivals to being teammates, and that dynamic will certainly be fascinating.
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