Newcastle have been more active in this years market than possibly ever before. The one that has excited the fans like no other is Allan Saint-Maxim, a player in the mould of Haten Ben Arfa, and seemingly a player with similar temperament.
Player History
The mercurial Frenchman started his career on St Etienne’s books, playing 17 games for them and getting 2 assists, but his promise earned him a £4.5 million move to Monaco. At Monaco he was instantly loaned out to Hannover 96, scoring 1 goal in 16 games in his loan spell.
He was then loaned again the next season to SC Bastia where he played a lot more, 34 games in the league, but still only managed 3 goals and 3 assists.
He then earned a move to Nice for £9 million scoring 3 and assisting 7 in his first season. He followed this up with his most productive season last year in which he scored 6 goals and amassed 5 assists.
Newcastle have now paid £22.5 Million inclusive of addons for the Frenchman.
What has followed St Maxim around is worries about his temperament. Vieria his former manager said this: “Allan’s problem is that sadly he thinks that talent is enough to go to the highest level. And he needs to understand that he needs to work, to make sacrifices. He needs to suffer. And sadly, he has not yet understood that.”
Fantasy Potential
Early season potential is probably limited, as Bruce looks like he will prefer 2 up front, with first choices being Almiron and Joelinton. However, I expect when Newcastle’s fixtures open up he could turn into a real option.
At 5.5 he doesn’t have a lot of competition currently, with probably only Robinson of Sheff Utd looking like a solid pick at that price. So after Newcastle’s tough opening fixtures I think we’ll know if Bruce is going to fit him in, or if he is just going to use him from the bench. From what I’ve seen it’s looking likely if he will be used it will be in home games, so he could be a decent rotation option down the line.
Written by Lotmer FPL (@LotmerFPL)
