£16m Newcastle player admits he kept playing through injuries this season

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Allan Saint-Maximin posted a lengthy message on Instagram which set Newcastle United fans tongues wagging with speculation.

The future of ‘unplayable‘ French winger Allan Saint-Maximin has been a hot topic all season with some fans thinking his time might be up at Newcastle as he doesn’t seem to fit Eddie Howe‘s style of play.

Despite that outside chatter, noises from within Newcastle have always been very pro-Maxi and the 26-year-old remains on the books going into the summer transfer window.

Has Allan Saint-Maximin said goodbye to Newcastle?

However, Saint-Maximin posted a very wordy Instagram message last night going into detail as to why he may have been off the pace this season, even highlighting how he often played through injury for the club – that could explain why he always took to the pitch looking like Mumm-Ra the Ever-living from Thundercats (google it, kids).

Saint-Maximin said: “I always tried my best to help the club in the best way possible, even by playing injured…
This year has been one of the most difficult year emotionally, you are not able to know that as I keep personal things for myself, but I lost some really important people, and that is nothing compared to all the things that happened in my life this year…”

It sounds like Saint-Maximin has been hiding a lot of pain this season which could explain why his appearances have been so sparse under Howe.

A lot of fans have interpreted this message as a ‘goodbye’ although there’s nothing really to prove that in what he said, in fact it ends with him saying how he’ll continue to give everything on the pitch. However, reading between the lines there are a couple of hints that he could be on the move, especially the line: “I am now entering a turning point in my career” which is very open-ended.

Bruno and Joe Willock added their support to Maxi’s post

Under his post were a couple of messages of support from his fellow Newcastle players with Bruno Guimaraes posting a series of heart emojis and Joe Willock saying “Love you broski”.

There were many messages of support from fans who haven’t forgotten his efforts during the Bruce days where he was our one bright spark. Whatever happens next, we will never forget what he did for the club following his £16.5million transfer from Nice, but is it time for Saint-Maximin to take on a new challenge away from Newcastle?

That’s for the him and the club to decide. I personally read this as more of an explanation as to why he’s not been quite on it this season, a dig at those fans who relentlessly criticised him and a promise to come back stronger.