According to the latest reports from the Mirror, Newcastle United have had a £14m bid for Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin turned down. However, the English side is not going to give up on the Frenchman so one can expect another approach from the Magpies.
Steve Bruce’s arrival has been met with a lot of scepticism among the Toon faithful, but the club recently completed a record signing of Joelinton from Hoffenheim. Now it seems like the club is keen to add options in the wide regions. Saint-Maximin is a seven-time France u-21 international, and he is seen as a significant talent in his homeland.
The winger was a regular for Nice last season as he played in 36 games in all competitions and contributed with six goals and five assists.
Why are Newcastle United in need of attacking options?
The club parted ways with Salomon Rondon, Ayoze Perez and Joselu from last season. Rondon and Perez formed a formidable partnership together, and they were involved in most of the goals which the Toon scored last season. Therefore the club needs that attacking firepower to replace the top two attackers from the previous season.
What will the Frenchman bring to St. James’ Park?
Saint-Maximin is a right-winger, but he is versatile enough to play on both the flanks and even through the middle. The Frenchman created a lot of goal scoring opportunities in the final third, and if partnered with better-attacking partners, then he could come with a more impressive haul of goals and assists.
The 22-year-old has got serious pace, and he will trouble a lot of defenders in the Premier League when running at full tilt. He is not afraid to take on defenders in one on one situation as he backs his sublime dribbling skills to go past his man. The winger has that flair to his game where he can make defenders look silly with his on the ball footwork.
What should Bruce do?
There is no doubt to us that he will be a top addition to the United squad who are desperately looking to bolster their attacking options. It all comes down to whether Sain-Maximin would manage to settle in a new club in the new country. If he manages that, then he could be one of the players to watch out for. A talent like him isn’t going to come around £14m so Bruce should up his bid and test Nice’s resolve with a more formidable offer.
