Bruce backs ‘daft’ and ‘different’ ASM to inspire Newcastle

Matt Stead

Allan Saint-Maximin has been tipped to light up Newcastle’s Premier League campaign – at the same time as boosting the fines pot.

The 22-year-old French winger, a £16million summer signing from Nice, is as flamboyant off the pitch as he is on it and after recovering from an early hamstring injury, has started to show flashes of his unpredictable talent.

Head coach Steve Bruce said: “He’s only 22 and he’s got more outfits than I’ve seen. He’s different and I’m sure at times he’s going to cause me a few problems. But in all of that, deep down, he’s a decent kid.

“He’s okay, a bit different, but we all have to manage these different individuals, and he’s certainly one.

“He likes an ear-ring. He gives me £100 every other day when he forgets to take it out! In that respect, I’ve got a few quid off him already.

“But he’s a good kid, he’s all right. The players like him. He’s daft, he’s off the wall and he’s likeable.”

 

The Magpies have a rich tradition of mercurial French midfielders with David Ginola, Laurent Robert and Hatem Ben Arfa having thrilled the Toon Army in recent years, and Bruce is hopeful Saint-Maximin can inject a little more of the magic his side has lacked at the start of the Premier League campaign.

He said: “He is the one we can rely upon to do something different. Even the goal we scored against Manchester United, he picked it up and drove forward and within 10 yards, he’s beaten four of them.

“He does give us something off the shelf. He can cause anybody problems.”