Paul Scholes, Neal Maupay and the curious case of Man Utd icon's daughter's toes

Neal Maupay is a notorious troll and he has once again left football fans in stitches with a brutal response to Manchester United legend Paul Scholes over an infamous incident

Neal Maupay took a savage dig at Paul Scholes after the Manchester United icon joked the former Brighton star "takes the p***".

The feisty French striker, currently on loan at Ligue 1's Marseille from Everton, is no stranger to causing a stir. He infamously got into a row with James Maddison after nicking his dart celebration and taunted Toffees fans about their club's poor form - despite still being under contract at Goodison Park.

Scholes, 50, made a fairly innocuous mention of Maupay during a conversation on the Overlap Fan Debate, when he referred to the 28-year-old forward's reputation as a wind-up merchant and quipped: "He just takes the p***."

But not one to let it slide, Maupay responded on X in typical fashion, tweeting: "Surprised Paul Scholes can fit my name in his mouth alongside his daughter's toes," with a cheeky foot emoji for good measure.

The jab refers to the awkward viral gaffe from 2021 that caught Scholes appearing to nibble at his daughter Alicia's toenails, reports the Mirror. Alicia, who plays netball for Superleague side London Pulse and England, posted a video the former England midfielder will never live down on Instagram.

The now 23-year-old, who also helps her dad run a new state-of-the-art gym in Oldham, the United legend's hometown, added the caption "true love" to the clip, which seemingly showed the Red Devils icon with her toes in his mouth.

Scholes was later mocked by ex-team-mate Rio Ferdinand and former Arsenal sporting director Edu over the embarrassing video, with both of them posting teasing responses on social media.

Fans on social media hailed Maupay's bold clapback, with reactions ranging from "I despise you as a player/person, but this comment is hilarious banter - fair play" to others branding it "a violation" and "Boy went to France and chose violence. Respect."

Alicia Scholes posted the video of her dad on social media

One fan tweeted in amusement: "Maupay is the gift that keeps on giving," while another user commented: "Maupay has genuinely ruined Scholes here, genuinely laughed out loud."

The controversial toenail video cropped up around the same time United suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford, prompting Scholes to confess: "I've had better weekends."

Maupay earned himself a reputation as one of the Premier League's top wind-up merchants during his time with Brighton, Brentford and Everton, due to his ability to get under the skin of opponents and fans.

In 2023, he earned himself a yellow card when he wasn't even playing by cheekily booting the ball away from Chelsea's Cole Palmer just as he was about to take a free kick, while Maupay was warming up on the touchline.

And he left Everton fans fuming when he celebrated leaving for Marseille with a video from the classic film Shawshank Redemption, showing the movie's hero escaping jail.

However, the pantomime villain has revealed he has received "disturbing" death threats and abuse from online trolls.