· 7 July 2025, 19:30
**When we talk about players who divided the Newcastle United fanbase, Allan Saint-Maximin is one of those names that will almost always appear in the conversation.**
On his day, there was no player in the Premier League more exciting to watch than Allan Saint-Maximin. The things he could do with the ball at his feet were mesmerising, and he'd often leave opposition players scratching their heads as he sailed past them.
However, for a lot of fans, those days were far too rare, and often his tricks would land him, and thus the team, in trouble as he'd always try to beat one extra player than he needed to.
Saint-Maximin was also often criticised for his lack of end product, and yet those who adored him really adored him. It was almost cult-like.
Allan Saint-Maximin's below-value move to Al-Ahli still came under scrutiny
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Allan Saint-Maximin was often linked with moves away from the club, and in truth, no matter what side of the divide fans fell on, most agreed that letting him leave would be a bad idea. For the longest time, watching Maxi was about the closest thing we had to joy at our club.
However, following the takeover and with arrivals like Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes, the club started to go up a level, and it was clear that Saint-Maximin was not at that level, and he was eventually sold for £23 million to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli. A deal which many would say was way below his worth after being touted as a £35 million player.
Eyes were still on the deal given the PIF's involvement with both clubs, so had he gone for £35 million, there'd have been outrage at Newcastle doing what many other Premier League clubs had done - selling mediocre assets to the Saudi Pro League for way above their value.
ASM claimed Arsenal, Man City and Man United all wanted him
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Speaking to Zack Nani's YouTube podcast, Allan Saint-Maximin has now revealed that he had offers to leave the Magpies for three Premier League big hitters, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City, when Newcastle were struggling, but he turned them down to 'remain loyal' to the Toon Army.
> “We were fighting relegation at the time. I had a lot of offers, and in terms of my career and development, leaving might’ve been the smarter choice.
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> “But I didn’t want to abandon them. I stayed until the end. I stayed loyal. City, Arsenal, and United were all interested.”
There likely were several Premier League sides interested in Saint-Maximin, but we can't see the likes of City and Arsenal being overly keen.