Allan Saint-Maximin believes players like himself are a dying breed in the modern game.

Newcastle United fans regard the Frenchman as a cult hero for his four-year spell at St James’ Park. Playing predominantly during the latter days of Mike Ashley’s reign, Saint-Maximin provided excitement and magic when the Magpies needed it most.

While not always consistent, his flair and flamboyance made the winger a firm fan favourite. Saint-Maximin left in 2023 and briefly worked under Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle at Al-Ahli.

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Allan Saint-Maximin on modern football

A hot topic in the modern game is whether football has become too tactical and driven by data. Saint-Maximin agrees - insisting mavericks like himself are few and far between.

“The system now, they don’t like players like me,” he told The Athletic. “This is a fact. They don’t like a player with great dribbling skills who makes the fans stand up. You have to find a balance - you are not there to just do stepovers and kill your team. But it’s very important to keep this.

“The fans come to the game for what? Do they come to watch us play pass, pass, pass? They don’t come for that. They come for a player like Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zidane, they come for this type of player. In the long term, if we keep losing this type of player, football will become so boring and it’s not what we want.”

“I was playing outside every single day and this is the thing that is missing a bit now,” he adds. “We don’t see a lot of people playing around now: they play PlayStation, stay on their phone, rather than go outside and play football all day. Because of this, a lot of things start to change. It’s not only because of the coaches.”

‘They gave me everything’ - Allan Saint-Maximin

Saint-Maximin also cherished the lifelong memories that he made on Tyneside. He added: “They gave me everything and it was very important to be loyal. I will never, ever forget them.”