Brentford transfer news: Bees ‘to battle’ Ligue 1 giants for Everton’s Neal Maupay

Brentford are reportedly prepared to compete with Marseille to re-sign Everton forward Neal Maupay.

The Bees have made three additions to their squad in the summer transfer window, having recruited Igor Thiago, Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg.

Brentford are believed to be on the verge of making their fourth signing of the summer after reaching an agreement with Gremio for the highly-rated attacker Gustavo Nunes.

The Bees have agreed to pay around £10m for the 18-year-old, who is undergoing a medical before being unveiled as Brentford’s latest summer addition.

While they are on the brink of securing Nunes’s signature, Brentford already appear to be on the lookout for further reinforcements in the closing stages of the transfer window

According to Foot Mercato, the Bees are interested in signing French forward Maupay for the third time in his career.

Maupay spent two years with Brentford until he left in 2019, before he returned to the club on a season-long loan deal from Everton last summer.

The report claims that the Bees are in the race to sign Maupay alongside Marseille, who view the Frenchman as a priority target for the final stages of the window.

Marseille have experienced a busy summer, having recruited Lilian Brassier, Valentin Carboni, Jeffrey de Lange, Derek Cornelius, Geronimo Rulli, Bamo Meite, Ismael Kone, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Mason Greenwood, Elye Wahi and Jonathan Rowe.

Maupay, who has entered the final year of his Everton contract, has also been linked with a return to Nice – the club where he started his career

Brentford have already splashed out on a striker this summer, signing Thiago from Club Brugge for a club-record fee.

However, Thiago is sidelined until the latter stages of 2024 after he sustained a knee injury in a pre-season friendly against AFC Wimbledon.

With the Brazillian injured and uncertainty surrounding Ivan Toney‘s future, Brentford may view Maupay as a stop-game solution until Thiago returns to action.

Maupay would add strength in depth to Frank’s squad, but they may be reluctant to bring him back to the club for a third time, especially as it felt that last season’s loan spell was a suitable ending to the Frenchman’s association with Brentford.

The former France Under-21 international would most likely be looking to join a club that could offer him regular game time which would not be guaranteed at the Gtech Community Stadium