Newcastle United’s new signing Allan Saint-Maximin may have only joined the club yesterday, but he’s already impressing fans thanks to an exciting half-hour cameo at St James’ Park.
Signed from OGC Nice for £16m, ASM is essentially the Toon’s replacement of Ayoze Perez, after Joelinton was brought into fill the void of Rondon last month.
Some Toon supporters would perhaps not have expected to see Saint-Maximin playing in a Toon shirt so soon, but the Frenchman was thrust into the action in today’s friendly versus St-Etienne.
And the new number 10 did not disappoint, displaying all the trickery and movement NUFC fans had been promised.
Not since Hatem Ben Arfa has there been such a wave of excitement across the stadium whenever a player gets the ball, and ASM is genuinely unpredictable when he does.
Within minutes of coming on the winger burst up the left flank, threw in a flashy step-over, and then fired a shot at goal.
Although the shot missed the target, his instant desire was met with a roar of approval from the home support.
But minutes later he definitely gave them something to cheer, skipping past a player before unleashing a stinging strike outside the box, requiring a good save to keep it out.
Last week fans were wondering where Newcastle’s goals would come from this season, ASM looks like he could solve that problem.
He even played his part in young Matty Longstaff’s debut goal for the first team, displaying some cheeky hold up play on the left flank in the build up.
He helped the side finish out their pre-season with a 2-1 win, and yet another victory for Steve Bruce.
It remains to be seen how well ASM will perform this season, but at the very least, Toon fans know they are going to be entertained.
The winger has a reputation for being frustrating in Ligue 1, particularly for his lack of end product.
Steve Bruce however seemed impressed with the star, telling journalists after the game: “He will drive me mad at times, I’m sure of that.
“But you can’t deny he’s got electrifying pace.”
Newcastle fans certainly don’t seem too bothered about his criticisms tonight and were full of praise for his debut performance.
NUFC fans on ASM’s debut
https://twitter.com/nufcmax_/status/1157683567931154433
https://twitter.com/Calumvalentine9/status/1157680763825008640
https://twitter.com/_bennufc/status/1157679974662529024
https://twitter.com/Hammoudeh201/status/1157681339484782593
https://twitter.com/leesampson101/status/1157674424801398784
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