Michail Antonio has claimed Neal Maupay trolling could one day come back to bite him after the striker recently clashed with James Maddison and Kyle Walker.
Maupay first caused controversy when he collided with the Tottenham midfielder after copying his darts celebration during Brentford’s 3-2 defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s side.
The Frenchman was also involved in a heated dispute with Kyle Walker during their match against Manchester City on Monday night, with one lip reader claiming Maupay had “whispered taunts about his opponent’s children”. Walker allegedly responded by threatening to “knock out his opponent.”
While many have offered their opinions on Maupay’s antics, with the Bees striker now considered one of the “biggest clearance traders in football”, Antonio has given his opinion on the recent antics, claiming that Maupay has gained a reputation for irritating his opponents. .
“He’s probably the most unpleasant person on the pitch,” the West Ham striker said on BBC 5 Live Sport’s ‘The Players Channel’ podcast.
Michail Antonio (L) and Tom Cairney (R) have offered their opinions on Neal Maupay’s recent antics.
Maupay clashed with Manchester City’s Kyle Walker on Monday night when a lip reader said the Brentford forward had “whispered taunts about his opponent’s children”.
“He literally goes out on the field to bother people. And now he is known for it.
“There will be a day when someone won’t have it and at half-time or at the end of the game it will be a problem.”
Antonio was joined on the podcast by Fulham’s Tom Cairney, who echoed the West Ham striker’s comments but added that Maupay has perfected his craft.
Cairney said: ‘It’s an art. It’s a skill. Because before the game the coach will say “don’t let it bother you, don’t get silly yellow cards.”
‘Is incredible. And like you said, Kyle Walker almost lost his mind the other night.
Although Maupay had copied Maddison’s celebrations during their match against Tottenham, it was the Spurs star who had the last laugh, as his team claimed victory.
After the game, Maddison also revealed to TNT Sports what he had said to Maupay during the match, criticizing the Brentford striker.
“I just told him that he probably hadn’t scored enough goals in recent years to have his own celebration, so he had to copy mine,” he said. “It’s a short story, but it ended well for us anyway.”
Walker had also threatened to “knock out the Brentford striker”, according to the lip reader.
Maupay was also involved in a heated dispute with Tottenham’s James Maddison during their recent 3-2 win against the Bees.
Tempers flared after Maupay copied Maddison’s darts celebration after scoring the first goal.
The Frenchman, who has six goals in 21 appearances for both Everton and Brentford this season, posted an image on social media copying Maddison’s darts celebration after the match.
He humorously captioned the post: “I was a little early with that one.”
Maddison posted a similar image of Maupay on her Instagram, saying: “A short story…COYS” to which Maupay replied: “Free rent” with several “kiss emojis.”
His dispute with Walker was much more heated, with Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton called his behavior “disgraceful” on ‘It’s All Kicking Off’.
“It just seems pretty strange to me because there are levels, right?” Sutton said. ‘This is what I can’t understand about him (Maupay).
Maupay in retaliation said he had “more goals and fewer relegations” than Maddison
Maddison posted a photo of Maupay on Instagram to which the latter responded “free rent.”
“When you hand it out to players who, frankly, are much better than you, I think it’s a really strange mentality. I would be thinking about keeping my mouth shut and going unnoticed.
“You want to be competitive, you can be physical, whatever, but throwing comments at Kyle Walker, I don’t understand it in any way, he should be really embarrassed.”
He added: “Thomas Frank, a decent guy, I don’t know, maybe he’s saying to keep doing it behind closed doors, but he can’t like it.”