‘He’s worth’: Perry Groves backs controversial Newcastle transfer, makes Aston Villa claim

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Perry Groves says Allan Saint-Maximin is ‘worth’ £30 million amid claims that the Newcastle United winger will be joining Saudi Arabia side, Al-Ahli.

The Saudi Arabia Pro League side is run by the nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – and they own Newcastle United, so you can see where some start to question how his transfer fee might be inflated, as a result.

Nonetheless, whilst it seems as though Allan Saint-Maximin will be moving to the Middle East for ‘£30 million’, ex-Arsenal man Groves told talkSPORT that is about right, as he used Aston Villa’s capture of Moussa Diaby as an example.

Depending on what you read, some suggest that the Midlands side paid a club-record £51.9 million (Guardian) for the winger, but according to Fabrizio Romano, it’s around £10 million less.

Either way, from that deal and Newcastle signing Harvey Barnes for £39 million (Sky Sports), you can start a conversation about Saint-Maximin’s worth.

But for Groves, whilst he doesn’t think the all-action winger is ‘world class’, he dismissed the controversy around his transfer.

“No he’s not, he’s nowhere near world-class,” said Groves. “The most goals he has scored for Newcastle is five. That was in his best season. Harvey Barnes got 13 in a really poor Leicester side.

“He is worth £30 million, without a shadow of a doubt. The other problem you could have is that, with the other four Saudi Arabian teams that are owned by PIF, it’s when a player goes there and then they move the player on. And is he going to go for under the market value that he should be worth?

“It’s not like Saint-Maximin is going for £65-75 million. Where you think, ‘No, that’s way over the market value’. And if you look at the players that have moved around. We can talk about Moussa Diaby. He has come to Aston Villa. It has been reported that it’s a club-record fee of £49-50 million.

“Then you think ‘yeah, Saint-Maximin is worth £30 million’. Harvey Barnes has joined for £35 million?! So, that is about the right price.”

The transfer market is already ruined

Forget the Saudi money and forget what Saint-Maximin is going for, the transfer market is ruined already and has been for decades.

Players who have no trophies to their names, never played in the Champions League, or even challenged for the title are being sold for close to £100 million, if not more.

So, how on earth can you gauge what Saint-Maximin is worth?

Yes, the Diaby and Barnes deals might give you an indication, but take those players off the table and put Antony, Jadon Sancho, Dan James, Richarlison or Nicolas Pepe, and then you get different viewpoints.