A look at the impressive stats which make Newcastle's Allan Saint-Maximin the signing of the season
Allan Saint-Maximin has proven to be the pound-for-pound signing of the 2019-20 season.
The electric winger, who joined Newcastle from Ligue 1 outfit Nice for just £16.5m last summer, has lit up the top-flight with an array of eye-catching performances this term.
Newcastle confirmed their Premier League status for next season with a 4-1 win away at strugglers Bournemouth at the start of July, and Saint-Maximin was largely to thank as the Frenchman chipped in with a hat-trick of assists on the south coast.
That took his assist-total to seven in all competitions, which alongside his four goals ranks him highest for goal involvement for the Magpies during a campaign which has been majorly disrupted by the global coronavirus pandemic.
However, it is not just Saint-Maximin’s goalscoring and assist statistics which set him apart from the rest of his teammates at St. James’ Park.
Indeed, Newcastle are a completely different team with the 23-year-old in the starting line-up.
WhoScored.com recently revealed that Newcastle’s points-per-game rate rises to 1.89 when Saint-Maximin is present on the pitch, from just 0.73 when he does not start.
Based on these stats, Newcastle would earn a total of 72 points throughout the duration of a 38-game domestic campaign - pretty much guaranteeing a top-four finish and subsequent place in the Champions League.
Without him, though, the situation is very different and the Magpies’ points-per-game rate of 0.73 would see them record just 28 points throughout the course of a full league season, in turn relegating them to the Championship.
Amazingly, Newcastle have only won one league game this season when Saint-Maximin hasn’t been in the squad at all due to injury - a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace back in December - further highlighting his stark importance to the side.
Saint-Maximin’s dribbling stats are impeccable, too. The former Nice winger ranks third behind Wolves’ Adama Traore (1st, 182 completed) and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (2nd, 162 completed) with 121 successful take-ons during this season’s Premier League.
What is most impressive, however, is that he has played 736 fewer minutes than Traore, and 1,365 fewer than Zaha.
In fact, out of the ten players who have completed the most successful take-ons in the top-flight this time out, Saint-Maximin has played the least amount of minutes (1,825), with Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish completing just under half as many in almost double the amount of minutes (69 completed in 3,045 mins).
Of course, hitting this level of performance in your debut season in the Premier League is going to bring with it interest from some of the division’s ‘bigger’ clubs, with Arsenal reportedly showing strong interest in the Frenchman in recent weeks.
Steve Bruce has insisted that his Gucci-clad starlet is not for sale, but with the North East club’s potential multi-million pound takeover still hanging in the balance, it remains to be seen whether or not they’ll be able to keep hold of him next season.
As soon as transfer odds are made available for Allan Saint-Maximin this summer, we’ll be sure to make you all aware via our Twitter account @BettingOddsUK, so make sure you give us a follow to stay updated.
