Brentford have signed French youth international attacker Neal Maupay from AS Saint-Étienne for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance.

The 20-year-old completed a medical earlier today, Friday 14 July, and signed for The Bees this afternoon. Neal has signed a four-year-contract and will link up with Brentford for pre-season training next week.

Neal came through the youth ranks at Nice and made his debut for them just after his 16th birthday. He played for Nice in the French top flight and also for Nice’s second team in the fifth tier. He scored nine goals in 53 games for Nice, and scored for them in a pre-season friendly at Griffin Park in 2014, before a switch to Saint-Étienne in 2015.

Neal scored three goals in his first season with Saint-Étienne and agreed a switch to Stade Brestois 29 for the 2016/17 campaign. In his year with Brest, as they are better known, Neal scored 11 goals in the French second tier. He has played for France at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level and has, in total, won 35 caps and scored 16 goals.

Phil Giles, Brentford FC Co-Director of Football, said: "There were many clubs both in England and overseas that were interested in signing Neal this summer. I am very proud of the team effort from everyone at Brentford who contributed to selling our club and our ambition to Neal. He is a good player and a good man.

“Having made the decision to join Brentford he honoured that agreement despite having other clubs interested in acquiring his services. We look forward to working with him over the coming seasons."

Dean Smith, Brentford FC Head Coach, added: “As Phil has said, he is a player that we have been tracking for a long while. He fits all the profiles we set when we look for a player. He has a really good personality and character to go with his skill level. We are very lucky to have got him and I look forward to working with him.”

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