The Newcastle United response to Chelsea’s Allan Saint-Maximin ‘enquiry’

Newcastle United have already made their feelings clear on Allan Saint-Maximin amid Chelsea
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Chelsea have reportedly enquired about Allan Saint-Maximin’s availability this summer.

The Newcastle United winger heads into pre-season on the back of a difficult end to the 2021/22 campaign.

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Saint-Maximin picked up a calf injury in February and struggled to recapture the previous form shown during his opening two-and-half-a-years on Tyneside.

That led to speculation over his future, which continued into the summer with Chelsea, Tottenham and other European clubs making “tentative enquiries” - according to The Athletic.

Eddie Howe has already said he wants Saint-Maximin to stay

While Eddie Howe is right to want more from Saint-Maximin this season, he made his desire to keep the 25-year-old known in April.

“Absolutely, yes,” Howe told NewcastleWorld when asked if Saint-Maximin has a long-term future at St James’ Park.

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“Don’t always believe what you read in the papers. I’ve got a great relationship with Maxi, I’ve really enjoyed working with him.”

Unless a mammoth bid arrives for Saint-Maximin, which appears unlikely at this stages, it’s fair to assume he’ll be staying put at Newcastle.

Howe, speaking from the club’s training camp in Austria last week, is already focused on getting the best out of Saint-Maximin this season.

“My big message to him at the end of last season was, ‘Physically, we need to try and get more out of you,’” Howe said, as quoted in The Athletic.

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“That’s in every area of his game; so that’s more forward runs, getting in more goalscoring positions.

The expectation of Maxi is that he’s got to be able to deliver the physical effort that I want the team to deliver.

“We’ve worked really with Maxi during pre-season, He’s in a really good place, I think. He looks happy, he’s trained well. He’s delivered everything we asked him to deliver.

You know, we’ve pushed him physically, he’s responded. So I’m hoping for a very, very good season.”