Steve Bruce makes bold claim on Newcastle United's Allan Saint-Maximin

Saint-Maximin’s form has been a positive for the winless club. The winger, fielded up front by Bruce, has scored two goals – and played every minute of every Premier League game – so far this season.

The 24-year-old’s form has already seen him linked with other clubs, but Bruce hasn’t had discussions with United’s hierarchy about him.

“I haven’t even had that conversation – and I don’t want to have that conversation, as you can imagine,” said Bruce. “Look, we don’t want to lose our best players at all.

“For now, I’m not going to have that conversation with anybody, because we want to keep our best players.”

Saint-Maximin was signed from Nice in a £16.5million deal two years ago – and his value has multiplied since then.

Bruce believes that Saint-Maximin is playing “as well as anybody can in the Premier League” ahead of tomorrow’s game against Watford at Vicarage Road.

“When he walked through the door, I said he was going to get all of you off your seats, that he’d be a firm favourite,” said Bruce. “He’s playing as well as anybody can in the Premier League at the moment, and when he’s playing like this, then he’s a joy to watch.

“He’s something different, his pace and power and his balance, and he does things which nobody else can do in the Premier League. It’s all natural to him. Let’s hope we can get a bit more threat alongside him.”

Bruce also praised midfielder Miguel Almiron, who’s a “dream to manage”.

United’s head coach said: “For his appetite for the game, the way he is as a pro and a lad, as a manager, you can't get any better. He's a dream to manage.

"I think the big problem with Miggy was it took something like 12 months to score a goal, but there's no disputing that before I got here, he lit the place up. He's had two-and-a-half years coming up, maybe. He's a very good player.

"What you need from your forward players, are goals and assists, and, ultimately, that's what you're judged on if you're in those forward areas.”

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