Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were left in stitches after Micah Richards told them about Neal Maupay’s Everton departure. The French midfielder finished his challenging spell at Goodison Park in the last days of the transfer window, joining Marseille on an initial loan with the option to make the move permanent [L’Equipe, 29 August].
Maupay took to social media to share a clip from The Shawshank Redemption in which the main character escapes the prison in the final act after learning of his transfer, and both Lineker and Shearer burst out laughing as Richards described his tweet. Richards, speaking on The Rest Is Football on Wednesday (4 September, 9:00), said: “Do you remember Shawshank Redemption when he breaks free at the end and he’s just standing there in the rain?” “As soon as he left Everton, he tweeted on social media that he’d been held back and had escaped. That was ridiculous. How do you do that? I thought it was amazing, but it was also quite rude to Everton fans.
How much did Everton receive from Marseille for Neal Maupay? Outsiders may have found Maupay’s post amusing, but Everton fans saw it as yet another disrespectful conduct from a player who has spent the last few years criticizing his own club. The Frenchman has never appeared happy at Goodison Park, and while some fans have been overly harsh on him, he hasn’t helped himself with his statements during his time on Merseyside and on loan.
Thankfully, the striker’s loan term on Merseyside appears to be coming to an end, with a permanent move already agreed upon. He is no longer a headache for Everton fans or Sean Dyche to deal with. Hopefully, none of the new Blues players will follow in Maupay’s footsteps. So far, athletes such as Jake O’Brien and Iliman Nidaye have showed little evidence of acting in that way.
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