Newcastle United fans gave Allan Saint-Maximin a 'taste for football' and the Frenchman has inadvertently given prospective targets an idea of what to expect at St James' Park
Allan Saint-Maximin
Allan Saint-Maximin has paid tribute to Newcastle United fans for 'changing his life' and helping him to 'rediscover his love for football'.
Saint-Maximin quickly became a firm favourite with supporters after joining the Magpies from Nice six years ago.
Not only did Saint-Maximin light up St James' Park with his displays on the field - the mercurial forward also left his mark with his generosity off it, too, after he quietly donated to the city's foodbank, bought toys for young Geordies and, even, gave a fan a Rolex.
Saint-Maximin left the club to join Al-Ahli in 2023, but the Frenchman insisted Tyneside was 'home' in his farewell statement - and he meant it.
In fact, the mere memory of playing at St James' still gives Saint-Maximin 'chills' because it was 'real football with real supporters in a real city that loves football a lot'.
"They gave me back my taste for football," he said just a few days ago. "These fans don't realise it, but this fervour changed my whole life.
"When you arrive in a stadium that shouts your name throughout the entire match and you see big tifos, honestly, I don't even have the words. It was exceptional.
"That's why I say that these are the kind of experiences that you maybe only live once. Afterwards, you live them, but you live them differently. You experience them differently, and that's what happened to me.
"It's a love story that was exceptional and I want to thank them for that because I wouldn't have rediscovered my love for football without them."
Such fervour on Tyneside hit new heights, of course, after Newcastle ended a 70-year wait to win a major domestic trophy back in March.
Transfer targets like Anthony Elanga and James Trafford certainly do not have to look too far to realise what it would be like to experience success with Newcastle after around 300,000 fans took to the streets and the Town Moor to celebrate the Carabao Cup triumph against Liverpool.
"It can only enhance that," Eddie Howe recognised a few months ago. "It's very difficult to say whether it will have a tangible effect for us in the transfer market, but we have seen the power of Newcastle as a positive force globally.
"I'm sure the world has looked at us and whatever your opinion on how we have reacted to the cup win, you can see that the city is united.
"The football club is incredibly well-supported. There is a connection that's unique and only puts us in a really positive light."