Graham Potter confirms his perfect Brighton striker as '£15m' Neal Maupay edges closer to Nottingham Forest or Everton

Maupay, 26, was left out of the matchday squad for the 0-0 draw against Newcastle last Saturday with Nottingham Forest and Everton keen to to take the Frenchman.

Maupay, who joined Brighton in 2019 from Brentford for £15m, has been the club’s leading scorer in the Premier League for the last three seasons but has fallen out favour with head coach Graham Potter.

Maupay has just 12 months remaining on his deal and with Danny Welbeck, Deniz Undaz, Leo Trossard, Julio Enciso, Jeremy Sarmiento, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson among their ranks Potter feels he’s well covered.

Nottingham Forest are favourites to take Maupay in a £15m deal as they continue their recruitment drive following promotion but Everton also remain in the running.

Potter said: “We’ve got a different mix of players, but there’s not probably another Danny Welbeck in terms of profile, so that’s something we might look at if we’re going to look anywhere.”

“The performances have been really strong. We have still got players on the bench who haven’t got on the pitch today who we believe in.

“It’s not like we are are bare on numbers. There are really good options.

“Kaoru hasn’t started a game and you can see what he can do so he’s pushing, as are all the other subs.

“We need to make the right calls and the right decisions and we won’t do anything that puts the club in any financial position that isn’t positive.”

“But we’ve got some good options in terms of attacking. Deniz didn’t come on, we’ve still got Evan Ferguson, still got Julio (Enciso) that we believe in, young players.

“Leo Trossard has played up front as a nine, because Kaoru can play wide, so there are lots of different profiles from an attacking perspective.”