'Absolutely not' - Everton loanee defends himself after Kyle Walker confrontation in Man City game

Everton forward Neal Maupay has hit back at Kyle Walker following their confrontation during Manchester City's victory over Brentford a few weeks ago.

Maupay, who is currently on loan at the London club until the end of the season, netted the opener at the GTech Community Stadium on February 5 before a Phil Foden hat-trick secured the victory for Pep Guardiola's side but one of the most talked about moments was Maupay and Walker's heated disagreement during the game.

Walker complained to the referees and officials at the time over what Maupay allegedly said about his personal life and a professional lipreader claimed the defender had said, 'Ref, he spoke about my kids, he spoke about my kids, not once, but twice'.

Since then, Maupay has spoken out on the incident, confirming to French media outlet L'Equipe that the Englishman has got the incident all wrong as he defended himself, “It is absolutely not what has happened. No way, I haven't talked about his children. I have just talked to him about who he is, as a person.

"There is a line that should not be crossed. You can give a player the needle, but you can't talk about his family. So there are two options: either Kyle has misunderstood what I told him - but I manage pretty well in English - or he acted as a victim because he did not like what I told him."

He also spoke to the Times to reiterate that he had said nothing that Walker had accused him of saying, citing he would never cross that line. "If I can say something that puts you off or makes you overthink and make a mistake, I’ll do it. People don’t realise how much tension and emotion is involved at the highest level. I think it works quite well and if I can get a reaction, great. It’s not personal and I’m sure I’ve never crossed that line. I try to be on the edge but I don’t say stuff about a player’s private life or their family."

Maupay struggled after joining Everton from Brighton in 2022, managing just one goal in 27 appearances but his loan spell at his former club has seen him rediscover his goalscoring touch; he has seven goals and three assists in 21 games.