Saint taking Toon to Max

ALLAN SAINT-MAXIMIN has become the breakout star of the Premier League restart.

The French winger is tormenting opponents, embarrassing defenders with his trickery and pace.

When a Newcastle player shines this brightly – his latest heroics a hat-trick of assists against Bournemouth – the usual questions get asked.

When are they going to cash in and sell him? How much for?

The tests Newcastle must now pass are how to keep and improve him.

Saint-Maximin arrived from Nice for just £16million, a deal overshadowed by the £40m spent on Joelinton.

Saint-Maximin is up there with past bargains like Yohan Cabaye, Demba

Ba, Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa – all Mike Ashley-era signings who thrived and gave the club positive momentum.

All of those ended up being sold at a vast profit. Instead of kicking on at Tyneside, they cashed in for bigger wages elsewhere. Newcastle were happy to be ‘good sellers’ and take the peak transfer fees.

At some point, if Newcastle are to become an ambitious club, that has to stop.

Maybe Saint-Maximin will be the player who ends up fulfilling his dreams at St James’ Park, with a supporting cast built alongside him.

His influence is shown in the stats. One win from 14 matches without him; 10 wins from 18 with him.

Saint-Maximin (above) has thrived after overcoming his injuries during the lockdown break – and playing in the warm, on summer pitches.

Can he maintain his entertaining individualistic, quirky personality that has charmed fans, and be consistently ruthless too?

Adama Traore has got Wolves challenging for Europe with his gamechanging pace and, if Newcastle invest well this summer, they too can be knocking on the door of the top eight next season with Saint-Maximin leading the charge.