Neal Maupay insists he has ‘no problem’ with James Maddison despite appearing to mock his omission from England’s final Euro 2024 squad.
Everton striker Maupay, who spent last season on loan at Brentford, angered Maddison and the Tottenham squad by copying his darts celebration in a Premier League match against Spurs in January.
Maddison and Maupay shared some tense words after the incident and the Frenchman escalated the feud on social media when he posted: ‘More goals and less relegations in my career than James Maddison.’
Maupay, 27, reignited the feud after Maddison released an honest and emotional statement following his omission from England’s Euros squad by posting a picture of himself smiling with a set of darts.
Maddison was named in England’s 33-man provisional squad for Euro 2024 but was one of seven players cut from the final squad that will travel to Germany on Monday.
Asked if he has an issue with Maddison, Maupay told talkSPORT: ‘You need to ask him. From my side, I’ve got no problem with him or anyone.
‘I know when I do things like that and we lose the game they will come for me. That’s fine, I can take it. For me, football is a game and growing up I did the same stuff. I don’t want to stop now.
‘I’m just having a bit of banter and a bit of a laugh, there’s nothing deep. I like to give something, but I can receive as well.
‘It’s just fun. I like a bit of banter with my mates. That’s just how it is, just because I’m a professional footballer doesn’t mean I can’t do it. I don’t know how people react to it, but it’s just me.’
Maupay, who scored eight goals in 34 appearances last season, also claims his celebration against Tottenham was not pre-planned.
‘I actually didn’t think about it before,’ he said. ‘I score and celebrate with whatever is going through my mind.
‘I don’t have one celebration, so I do a bit of everything. When I scored, I was running to the corner flag and saw the fans and they were angry at me.
‘I don’t know how my brain works, but I just did the darts celebration. It wasn’t towards Maddison, but one of their players does the celebration so I just did it.’
Asked about the reaction from the Tottenham players, Maupay added: ‘That was even funnier. How do you take a celebration so personally?
‘Before that game, I was cool with everyone and with Maddison. He grabbed me straight away as I was coming back from the goal and he was so p*****.
‘I was like “relax, it’s just a celebration”. All the players after they won the game came to me and were like ‘blah, blah, blah’. It didn’t bother me. You’ve got bigger things to worry about than my celebration. Just enjoy it.’
England’s 26-man squad will travel to Germany on Monday ahead of their first Euros game against Serbia next Sunday.