Allan Saint-Maximin will apologise to Eddie Howe and his Newcastle team-mates on Friday after a controversial interview threatened dressing-room unity.
Newcastle head coach Howe has confirmed he will address his squad to avoid any “fallout” from quotes that appeared in a French magazine. The winger will not be fined, but Howe has admitted he is far from happy with his £40million-rated star. Saint-Maximin claimed he would get more assists if he played alongside strikers of the quality of Sadio Mane, saying: “The day I have a player capable of finishing actions, I will make seasons with 10-15 assists, and I will change dimensions in people's heads.”
And that has left Howe fuming, and breaks a tight team spirit in his squad which he has encouraged since he took over in November. Howe said: “We will be speaking with the squad, and making sure there’s no fallout from that, because unity has been our strength. It’s vitally important that we keep that at all costs. I saw the quotes, spoke with Allan,” added Howe.
“I think I need to make this clear that Allan’s quotes didn’t come across in the way he meant them to. He was concerned yesterday. We spoke, and in no way did he mean to damage the team and the unity that we’ve built. Of course, he said things in an interview, but, as I said, it wasn’t in the context that he meant, although it happened.
“Ideally I would not want any of my players speaking about anything other than themselves and their own careers. I don’t think players need to talk about other players or players from other clubs. It is all about our club. It is about protecting the team and everything we do: giving off united and positive messages even in difficult moments, and that can be tough. But that is my ideal and what I want my team to do. I have no concerns over his mood. I don’t think I will be fining him about that situation, it is more a case of education and making sure players know what we expect of them.”
The full translation of Saint-Maximin’s comments suggested he did see a future for himself at Newcastle and that more quality signings will help him. But the point has come across clumsily and disrespected his current team-mates including Chris Wood and Callum Wilson.
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He added: “The changes that are going to take place in Newcastle thanks to the takeover will benefit me. I take the example of Bruno Guimaraes, frankly, he is a player who will take us to new levels. Being able to delegate responsibility for the offensive sector will help me. I'll give an example: with my qualities, if you put me in the France team with a Benzema and a Mbappe, I wouldn't have much to do to improve my stats, to be honest.
"Eliminating an opponent with a dribble is not something very difficult for me. What's really complicated is everything that comes after, but I know very well that once surrounded by high-level players, I will have a better statistical return. Because when you do a key pass, as we say here, whether it ends with a goal or not is no longer up to you.
“The day I have a player capable of finishing actions, I will make seasons with 10-15 assists, and I will change dimensions in people's heads. Inevitably, you're prettier in a team that rotates than in a team at the bottom of the table, it's completely normal. Any player who plays in Barcelona will be considered better than if he played in Clermont-Ferrand.”
