The Express and Star journalist Joe Edwards has highlighted Newcastle United’s Allan Saint-Maximin as his choice to replace Adama Traore if the Spaniard departs Molineux.
In recent months, Wolves’ 24-year-old attacker has been linked with a move to clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich in the summer (per Le 10 Sport).
Meanwhile, Saint-Maximin has been the Toon’s best-performing player in the Premier League this season with a stellar 7.34/10 average rating (per WhoScored).
So, in the latest episode of the E&S Wolves Podcast, Edwards aired that Steve Bruce’s French winger would be his choice to replace Nuno Espirito Santo’s Spaniard should he depart.
He said: “He’s an exciting player, is Saint-Maximin, and this is all hypotheticals, but if Wolves were to lose Traore for big money, say £80m, I think Saint-Maximin would be worth a look or worth an enquiry.
“Just to see, just to test the waters as to what he’d be available for because I think, especially with all this cloud hanging over Newcastle as to whether they’re going to get this takeover done or not, if it doesn’t get done, I think some of their players are going to get a bit frustrated and their star player is Saint-Maximin. In fact, if Mike Ashley is still in charge, he’ll cash in, he’ll soon cash in.
“I would say Traore is better at this moment in time, but if there was a situation where Traore was sold for big money, I don’t think you’d have to shell out… you’d perhaps shell out half of £80m for Saint-Maximin. You’d probably get him for about £40m, maybe.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, it is clear that Edwards believes that the Newcastle attacker could be a capable replacement for Traore.
Would Allan Saint-Maximin be a good replacement for Adama Traore?Yes, he's a good player
No, he's not good enough
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The stats would suggest that Edwards is correct, as Saint-Maximin has made 1.3 key passes and completed 4.7 dribbles per league match this season which is not far off Traore’s 1.3 key passes and 5.1 dribbles per game.