Allan Saint-Maximin says Yann M’Vila and Hatem Ben Arfa advised him on Newcastle move

Add as preferred source on Google

Allan Saint-Maximin has said he asked a variety of players for advice before making his recent move to Newcastle United, including Sunderland old-boy Yann M’Vila.

As per the Shields Gazette, Saint-Maximin explained he also went to former Newcastle playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa for advice ahead of his switch to the north east.

He said: “There were a lot of players, like M’Vila, though he wasn’t at Newcastle, he was in Sunderland. He spoke to me. Hatem spoke to me. I talked with a lot of players.

“They said to me it’s a great club, a great city and the supporters are great. Everything is great. This is why I came. I said ‘I know I want to be there’. Some players in Arsenal said to me ‘it’s a great stadium with a lot of people’.”

Saint-Maximin looks to have done his homework on his move to Newcastle but the supporters will want to see a good attitude from him as the season goes along.

There have been concerns over his attitude and that goes a long way to explaining why Nice let him leave the club despite his obvious talent.

But he has the ability to offer Newcastle more attacking impetus than they had under Rafa Benitez last season if he can keep his head screwed on.