Neal Maupay insists he does not have a problem with James Maddison after appearing to poke fun at his England Euro 2024 exclusion.
Maupay drew the ire of the Tottenham squad when he copied Maddison’s darts throwing celebration in January.
The duo exchanged words after the Brentford forward, who was on loan from Everton, before Spurs went on to win 3-2.
Maupay then escalated the feud on social media when he wrote: “More goals and less relegations in my career than James Maddison.”
The 27-year-old then appeared to reignite things when he posted a picture of himself with a set of darts shortly after Maddison had been axed from England’s final 26-man Euro 2024 squad.
However, the striker insists he has no issue with the Tottenham midfielder.
When asked if there was any beef, Maupay told talkSPORT: “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.
“That’s fine, I can take it. For me, football is a game and growing up I did the same stuff. I don’t want to stop now.”
He added: “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.
“It’s just fun. I like a bit of banter with my mates. That’s just how it is, just because I’m a professional footballer doesn’t mean I can’t do it.
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“I don’t know how people react to it, but it’s just me.”
Maupay also revealed that he did not have the celebration planned before he scored and it was just the first thing that went through his head.
He added: “I actually didn’t think about it before. I score and celebrate with whatever is going through my mind.
“I don’t have one celebration, so I do a bit of everything. When I scored, I was running to the corner flag and saw the fans and they were angry at me.
“I don’t know how my brain works, but I just did the darts celebration. It wasn’t towards Maddison, but one of their players does the celebration so I just did it.”
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When asked about the Spurs players’ reaction, Maupay said: “That was even funnier. How do you take a celebration so personally?
“Before that game, I was cool with everyone and with Maddison. He grabbed me straight away as I was coming back from the goal and he was so p*****.
“I was like ‘relax, it’s just a celebration’.
“All the players after they won the game came to me and were like ‘blah, blah, blah’.
When asked if it bothers him, he said: “Absolutely not. You’ve got bigger things to worry about than my celebration. Just enjoy it.”