This brilliant Newcastle United player has been a star on AND off the pitch

Newcastle United just weren’t the same without him before the shutdown.

That player, of course, was Allan Saint-Maximin, who scored the winning goal against Southampton before the Premier League was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Saint-Maximin, signed from Nice last summer, stopped beside the team coach outside the St Mary’s Stadium to speak to reporters after the win, which lifted the club up to 13th in the Premier League.

“I’m really happy to score this goal, and I give this goal to the supporters, because they travel a lot, they do everything for us and for the team, and that’s why I’m really happy to give this win to the supporters,” said the winger.

Maximin and his team-mates haven’t kicked a ball in anger since that afternoon. However, Saint-Maximin’s been the gift that’s kept giving during the country’s lockdown as he attempts to stay fit and sharp ahead of a possible June return for the Premier League.

The 23-year-old – who has more than 139,000 followers on Twitter – kept United’s fans entertained on the pitch, and he’s entertaining them while self-isolating with his family at his Newcastle home.

Saint-Maximin’s been posting videos on Twitter and live streaming back garden training sessions on Instagram. A clip of him doing keepy-uppies in front of his excited dog was watched more than 187,000 times. Another video, which he labelled the “Skills at Home Challenge”, showed him dribbling indoors in front of his children.

We’ve also seen sprints and his take on the #StayAtHomeChallenge, where he did keepy-uppies with a toilet roll.

Saint-Maximin, quick and skillful, is a born entertainer on the field.

And he’s been hugely-entertaining during a hugely-difficult time for the country, which doesn’t know when it will come out of lockdown given the increasing numbers of infections and deaths.

For the moment, most of us, including Saint-Maximin, must stay at home.

And Newcastle fans are dreaming of the day they can return to St James’s Park – and see Saint-Maximin swap his garden for the pitch.

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