Allan Saint-Maximin

[brasil_spur]

If the release clause is legitimate, he's interested and Conte wants him, it's something of a no brainer, as you could easily sell him for a lot more than £35m even if he didn't tear up any trees with us.

I suspect he'll stay at Newcastle though, given their financial muscle and likely upward trajectory.

Their upward trajectory isn’t likely getting them into the CL next season though, or potentially even the season after. Whilst they are mega rich now they (so far) don’t seem to be going mad on spending money and even if they do the competition at the top of the PL with established teams is strong.

I’m not saying he will join, but if he has a release clause for a CL team then it must mean he fancies playing in the CL, which Newcastle can’t offer for another couple of years, at least.

 

[ChaoticBeaver]

I think it’s unlikely that this would be his reason to leave.

He was raised Christian as well, so why not? In Saudi he’d be persecuted against for a number of reasons. Not everyone’s main focus is piles of cash.

Man City’s owners are bad, Newcastles are 100x worse.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Just had a look on the main Newcastle forum and a lot of them feel it's time to move him on due to his lack of end product and defensive output. They feel they can do better and now would be a good time to cash in.

Definitely not quite as beloved among their fans (at least online) as it seems from the outside.

Makes sense really - at Spurs I certainly wouldn't want him as a guaranteed starter. He's way too erratic.

I think that’s my issue, I would really like us to bring in one forward who is directly in competition with our current forwards. Now I get Kane and Son are world class, but for example Diaz would have been pushing for a starting spot. Someone of his calibre would be ideal. Considering how many games we will be playing next season we need our rotation options to be very strong. ASM for me isn’t near the level of our current front line. As an impact sun, sure he’d prob be better then Lucas, but he’s far to inconsistent to be considered a real starter.

 

[Timberwolf]

I think that’s my issue, I would really like us to bring in one forward who is directly in competition with our current forwards. Now I get Kane and Son are world class, but for example Diaz would have been pushing for a starting spot. Someone of his calibre would be ideal. Considering how many games we will be playing next season we need our rotation options to be very strong. ASM for me isn’t near the level of our current front line. As an impact sun, sure he’d prob be better then Lucas, but he’s far to inconsistent to be considered a real starter.

Agreed. For the kind of money he would cost I'd rather pay a bit more to invest in a top quality forward who can compete for a starting place with Kulu and cover Kane. ASM is a lot of money to spend on a Lucas replacement (fun though he would be to watch).

 

[dontcallme]

He was raised Christian as well, so why not? In Saudi he’d be persecuted against for a number of reasons. Not everyone’s main focus is piles of cash.

Man City’s owners are bad, Newcastles are 100x worse.

LOL, those Christians have such excellent values.

You're living in a fantasy world if you think players will be turning down Man City and Newcastle because of where the money comes from.

 

[daryl hannah]

Crazy. ASM is Newcastle’s best player. MOTM 6 times. He’d be a fantastic option off the bench with tenacity and ability to break lines. His dribbles are high quality and he sees space.

I’d much rather ASM than Carrasco or Richarlison. And regarding his defensive qualities, I’d ask, is Son defensive?

 

[JacoZA]

If we were struggling to score on the break, I'd be all for this. But our biggest problem is teams who sit deep and defend, and I don't see how this guy solves that problem. No point in being a good dribbler when there's no pitch left to dribble into.

 

[Timberwolf]

Crazy. ASM is Newcastle’s best player. MOTM 6 times. He’d be a fantastic option off the bench with tenacity and ability to break lines. His dribbles are high quality and he sees space.

I’d much rather ASM than Carrasco or Richarlison. And regarding his defensive qualities, I’d ask, is Son defensive?

Son puts in a hell of a shift covering defensively when out of possession.

 

[chas vs dave]

Son puts in a hell of a shift covering defensively when out of possession.

He does. When under pressure he drops into the lb area

 

[spursfan77]

I suspect he’s one of a number of players we are looking at.

One thing I did notice against arsenal when he played very well. His stamina was shocking. He was ndombele like after an hour and had to be subbed 10/15 minutes later. Now it could be down to Bruce sand Howe’s conditioning, but it would be something to watch out for.

I’m left wondering how many other times he has to be subbed off in games where he’s had a good match.

 

[eppingyid]

If we were struggling to score on the break, I'd be all for this. But our biggest problem is teams who sit deep and defend, and I don't see how this guy solves that problem. No point in being a good dribbler when there's no pitch left to dribble into.

I think he would help with the low block teams as well. Someone who can go past a player or 2 will always help create space and I always think back to that game vs Brighton as home. We were so one paced and easy to play against. Someone like him who can carry the ball and commit players would be a plus IMO

 

[Yantino]

I think what these kind of links point to more than anything (if the links are genuinely players that Conte/Paratici are interested in) is that we are actively looking for a ball carrying player who can cover that right hand side of the pitch.

Which is a good thing because that’s exactly what we need!

 

[chas vs dave]

I suspect he’s one of a number of players we are looking at.

One thing I did notice against arsenal when he played very well. His stamina was shocking. He was ndombele like after an hour and had to be subbed 10/15 minutes later. Now it could be down to Bruce sand Howe’s conditioning, but it would be something to watch out for.

I’m left wondering how many other times he has to be subbed off in games where he’s had a good match.

I think he needs to learn about game management. He goes hell for leather in the first 45 minutes.

 

[TPdYID]

If we were struggling to score on the break, I'd be all for this. But our biggest problem is teams who sit deep and defend, and I don't see how this guy solves that problem. No point in being a good dribbler when there's no pitch left to dribble into.

I agree with the first half of your post, re; teams dropping off and sitting in.

Dribblers thrive in tight areas, they relish the dual of attacker v defender. Think Hazard, Messi, Ginola, etc.

ASM like you allude to is better when there is space to drive into. He in my opinion is better placed in a team who plays on the counter. His style of play is therefore more Walcott, Townsend, Wright-Phillips then it is tidy feet in tighter spaces.

 

[JacoZA]

I agree with the first half of your post, re; teams dropping off and sitting in.

Dribblers thrive in tight areas, they relish the dual of attacker v defender. Think Hazard, Messi, Ginola, etc.

ASM like you allude to is better when there is space to drive into. He in my opinion is better placed in a team who plays on the counter. His style of play is therefore more Walcott, Townsend, Wright-Phillips then it is tidy feet in tighter spaces.

Fair enough. We're getting to the same conclusion though - he doesn't solve our biggest problem.

 

[brasil_spur]

Agreed. For the kind of money he would cost I'd rather pay a bit more to invest in a top quality forward who can compete for a starting place with Kulu and cover Kane. ASM is a lot of money to spend on a Lucas replacement (fun though he would be to watch).

I wouldn’t imagine that we sign ASM and because of that don’t also sign a forward player to cover Kane / the front 3.

We do need something different in our squad to break down the deep sitting teams and so it Conte thinks a player like AT or ASM is the way to go then I’m all for it.

 

[daryl hannah]

ASM doesn’t have to solve every problem we have all by himself. You bring in a dedicated playmaker in the 10 or deeper and that’s another dimension to the team.

 

[ChaoticBeaver]

He was raised Christian as well, so why not? In Saudi he’d be persecuted against for a number of reasons. Not everyone’s main focus is piles of cash.

Man City’s owners are bad, Newcastles are 100x worse.

Not going to carry this on beyond this post as it’s slightly off topic in this thread despite the Newcastle links but for those disagreeing, you need to look into both the UAE and Saudi, while they’re both bad, one has a far worse human rights record and hasn’t tried to progress at all.

 

[dontcallme]

Not going to carry this on beyond this post as it’s slightly off topic in this thread despite the Newcastle links but for those disagreeing, you need to look into both the UAE and Saudi, while they’re both bad, one has a far worse human rights record and hasn’t tried to progress at all.

No one is disagreeing with you that they have a bad human rights record. People do disagree that players will leave them or not join them due to this.

 

[ChaoticBeaver]

No one is disagreeing with you that they have a bad human rights record. People do disagree that players will leave them or not join them due to this.

Nope the original post is not what people are disagreeing with as much, it’s the second post about Saudi being worse than Man City’s owners.