Depends on if he would have signed a new contract or not. He might of said that he didn't want to . Brighton taking the money now rather than risking it. Ot they need the money for somthing else? Although they have bucket loads after their sales so far.Brighton would not be letting him go so easily if he was part of Potters plans. And he would not be coming here unless he was assured a starting place.
He averages 9 goals a season across the last 3 seasons, playing in a Brighton team that creates more chances and plays better Football than we do. The chances that he comes in and scores 10 or around that number are realistic, but is that going to be enough.
I understand that not everybody is going to be a superstar, but I think we should be targeting starting CFs who could produce better than 10 a season. Maupay is not that.