The departure of Allan Saint-Maximin is a big deal for Newcastle United.
A hugely popular player during a bleak period for the club, Saint-Maximin’s seemingly imminent departure for Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia is a sad moment.
Eddie Howe has already said he doesn’t particularly want to lose the Frenchman but FFP constraints dictate they must.
Then there’s the PIF factor.
The club in Saudi Arabia are owned by the same group as Newcastle of course and it seems that is causing problems behind the scenes.
Premier League rivals concerned by Saint-Maximin’s move to Saudi Arabia
According to The Athletic, a number of clubs plan to raise concerns.
All transfers over the cost of £1m are checked to make sure they do not exceed “market value” and several teams are believed to think the PIF link is inflating Saint-Maximin’s cost.
Still, the feeling at Newcastle is that a reported £30m would reflect the true value of a player of the 26-year-old’s stature.
In fact, they are believed to be very comfortable on the matter.
£30m does seem fair for Saint-Maximin
Clearly, it’s difficult to put exact price tags on players, with many transfers remaining undisclosed.
Still, whatever you feel about Newcastle’s Saudi links, £30m hardly seems particularly inflated.
Saint-Maximin might have endured some difficulty under Howe’s watch in terms of constantly convincing but has been hailed as “unplayable” by Premier League managers before.
With three years left on his contract and having played in a high-level Newcastle team last season, it’s not out of the realms of possibility that a team would be willing to part with £30m for a player only in his mid-20s.
Indeed, they paid £16.5m to sign him in 2019 and little about his time in the Premier League would suggest he’s not at least doubled that with some of his better performances.
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