Eddie Howe believes 'concerned' Allan Saint-Maximin's visit to his office proves the Frenchman did not mean to disrespect his Newcastle United team-mates.
Saint-Maximin has made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week following comments he made to French publication So Foot. Although Saint-Maximin spoke positively about the club and working with Howe in the in-depth interview, teaser quotes released ahead of the full interview coming out caused a stir.
Saint-Maximin declared that he had 'nothing to envy' from Liverpool star Sadio Mane in terms of 'pure quality' and, to illustrate that point, the 25-year-old claimed 'the day when I have a player capable of finishing, I will have seasons with 10-15 assists and I will change opinions'. This had been interpreted as a slight on Newcastle's strikers - Callum Wilson, Chris Wood and Dwight Gayle - but Saint-Maximin took to social media on Friday to insist he 'never said anything negative' about his team-mates and that he was 'looking forward to having an even better team so that we could progress collectively'.
