Lee Clark is confident Allan Saint-Maximin’s positive relationship with Steve Bruce will see him remain at Newcastle United next season. Unsurprisingly, his exploits have reportedly caught the attention of some of Europe’s top clubs with the likes of PSG, Napoli, Arsenal and Manchester United among the names linked with the former Nice star. But Saint-Maximin has spoken about how much he is enjoying his football at Newcastle, given the ‘trust’ Bruce has shown in him. And former United star, Clark, is confident that will see Saint-Maximin remain on Tyneside for at least another season.
Lee Clark said “One player who has thrived since the restart is Allan Saint-Maximin, The big worry for Newcastle fans and everyone connected with the club is whether they can keep him beyond this summer. He has been in such outstanding form, the standout player. He is somebody who can take the team from defence to attack in a matter of seconds and has such a fantastic balance and ability to go past players at speed as well. He also seems to do a lot of unseen work off the ball which goes down with his manager and his teammates. He’s a player that will have fans on the edge of their seats when they return to St. James’ Park. But what happens with a player like that when he stands out is other clubs show an interest, clubs who could potentially be in a better position than Newcastle when the season ends and provide him with European football. It’s going to be imperative that the club can try and hold onto him. It looks like he has a really strong relationship with Steve Bruce, so that could be an important part of him staying. He seems to enjoy playing for the club and has a really strong relationship with the supporters. Hopefully that is enough for him to stick around next season, where the club can build and show him that they have their own ambitions to try and get higher up the Premier League and to be competing for European places. The Frenchman certainly has the ability to emulate David Ginola and Laurent Robert, All he has to do is show it over over a consistent and long period like those two did. It was probably easier for those two lads because they were probably playing in stronger squads and in teams that were playing higher up the league and always challenging for Europe and titles. Saint-Maximin has played in a team that hasn’t always been allowed to express themselves going forward because they haven’t always been so dominant in matches. I think the change in formation that Steve has implemented over the last few months has helped them immensely, so there certainly is the potential for him and that’s why it would be exciting if the club could make the squad stronger so those lads could become even better and become stronger players. But for Saint-Maximin to do it in a squad that’s not always dominant it just shows he has a huge amount of ability.”
