Everton have signed Neal Maupay from Brighton & Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee, Premier League clubs announced on Friday, with the French striker signing a three-year deal.
Maupay is Everton’s sixth final-season signing after James Tarkowski, Ruben Vinagre, Dwight McNeil, Conor Coady and Amadou Onana and is joining for an undisclosed fee.
The Merseyside club had hoped to seal the transfer in time for the 26-year-old to make his debut at Brentford on Saturday but failed to complete the formalities in time.
“It feels fantastic,” said Maupay. “When I first started talking to the club it was an easy decision for me. I knew straight away that I wanted to play for Everton and help the club succeed.
“I’m excited and it’s a new challenge for me. I will give everything for Everton,” added the striker, who has scored 26 goals in 102 league games for Brighton.
Maupay, who moved to the south coast from Brentford for £16m ($18.78m) in 2019, has become Brighton’s top scorer on a regular basis, but manager Graham Potter said he left for football reasons, having not played so far this season would have.
“Neal would like to play football more regularly than we could offer him and Everton can give him that opportunity. We could fully understand his position and the deal is good for everyone involved,” he said.
Everton are 17th with one point from three games, while Brighton are fifth with seven points – two behind leaders Arsenal.
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