Eyebrows were raised when Gareth Southgate released his 26-man squad for the 2024 Euros. While some interesting names made the cut, one of the most notable absences was James Maddison. As many expressed their dissent, Tottenham Hotspur’s star midfielder found himself on the receiving end of a playful jab from his Premier League rival, Neal Maupay. However, the Brentford forward has cleared the air, insisting that his comments were merely banter and that he has ‘no problem’ with Maddison.

Maupay imitated the midfielder’s dart-throwing celebration in January. Lately, the on-loan Everton forward shared a picture of himself with a set of darts just moments after the midfielder was axed from the Three Lions’ roster for the upcoming tournament, suggesting he reignited things. However, it doesn’t seem to be the case. Speaking to talkSPORT, he said, “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.”

Maupay believes that being a professional soccer player doesn’t limit him to having fun. In fact, the French superstar claims there is no bad blood between the two, at least from his side. Remarking on potential beef, he said, “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.”

The former Brighton striker claims he has no problem getting an infuriated reply from rival players and is open to cross-banter. Moreover, Maupay revealed that even though his intentions weren’t directed at Maddison, other Tottenham players had an interesting reaction.

How did Tottenham players react to Neal Maupay’s cheeky dig at James Maddison?

Neal Maupay also denied that he had pre-planned to imitate James Maddison’s celebration during Spurs’ 3-2 win over Everton. While narrating how fans were angry at him for scoring the opening goal, the Brentford star insisted that he celebrates according to the moment: “It wasn’t towards Maddison, but one of their players does the celebration so I just did it.” As Spurs equalized, the response from their players was quite serious. Something which he found confusing!

Interestingly, Maupay added, “That was even funnier. How do you take a celebration so personally?” The Frenchman acknowledged that it had left Maddison ‘p*****.’

Even though the center-forward tried normalizing things, the final whistle saw him receive some ‘blah, blah, blah’ from Maddison’s teammates. While Neal Maupay seems to have cleared the air from his side, James Maddison gave no reply. Somethin’s brewin’!