Why Huddersfield Town should go all out to sign Neal Maupay
As per a report from The Sun, Premier League outfit Huddersfield Town are plotting a £10million swoop for Brentford striker Neal Maupay in the January transfer window.
The Terriers find themselves in a spot of bother as they sit 18th in the table after eight matches, having collected just three points. With the prospect of relegation staring at them, manager David Wagner has reportedly decided to strengthen his attack by signing Maupay. (h/t The Sun)
Maupay, 22, is in his second year with Brentford, having joined the club from St. Etienne in the summer of 2017. He had a fairly solid debut campaign in England as he produced returns of 13 goals and 5 assists in 46 appearances across all competitions last season.
The Frenchman has stepped on the gas in the 2018/19 term and has started the campaign in belligerent form. So far in the ongoing season, Maupay has already scored 10 goals and set up three more in 10 Championship appearances. In fact, the 22-year-old is at the top of the goalscoring charts right now.
Maupay’s impressive performances have helped the Bees to the seventh position in the Championship table, sitting just a point below Sheffield Wednesday.
On the other hand, Huddersfield are rooted in the relegation zone, with a lot of their problems stemming from the lack of goals. The Terriers, in their eight league games, have managed to find the back of the net on just four occasions – which is the joint-lowest tally for any club in the competition, along with newly-promoted Cardiff City.
Steve Mounie, who was Huddersfield’s top scorer last season, has had a torrid start to the 2018/19 campaign. The Benin international is yet to open his goalscoring account for the season, despite playing seven league games. Same goes for Belgian striker Laurent Depoitre, who is also without a goal in nine matches across all competitions.
Huddersfield invested in strengthening their forward line in the summer, bringing in the talented Adama Diakhaby from AS Monaco. However, the 22-year-old has fired blanks in his six top-flight appearances as well. Fellow new recruits Ramadan Sobhi and Isaac Mbenza have also failed to live up to the expectations.
It is rather bizarre that out of the four league goals that the Terriers have scored this season, three have come from their centre-backs – Christopher Schindler, Mathias Jorgensen and Jon Gorenc Stankovic – with the other one being scored by midfielder Philip Billing.
It is clear that Wagner and Huddersfield are in need of injecting more firepower to their attack and Maupay would provide them with just that. The Brentford man has been in fine form this term and is averaging a goal every 84.7 minutes in the Championship. The 22-year-old has directly been involved in 65% of the Bees’ goals this season.
A quality finisher, the Frenchman is at his best when playing as a centre-forward. But if needed, he can also play the role of a wide attacker and as a No.10. The former French U21 international possesses blistering pace that allows him to breeze past defenders. At the same time, he also has the ability to play with his back to the goal and hold up the ball to bring his teammates into play.
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A striker with good all-around abilities, Maupay has what it takes to be a consistent source of goals for Huddersfield. If the Terriers are to stand a chance of surviving the drop back to the second tier, they need to boost up their attacking ranks and Maupay could prove to be the ideal solution.