Mike Ashley names Allan Saint-Maximin asking price & hands Bruce summer budget - Report

According to The Mail, Newcastle United won't sell Allan Saint-Maximin this summer unless someone matches our £70m asking price.

The report states that any exit seems highly unlikely as a result, with Mike Ashley a stubborn seller and Steve Bruce determined to keep a hold of our best players.

That said, it looks like the NUFC boss will be relying on player sales to boost what looks to be a very limited summer budget, as The Mail claim he's set to be handed just £12m to spend on new signings.

Here's a snippet from Simon Jones' latest piece on the transfer piece:

'It's understood Newcastle have around £12m to spend plus any revenue they raise through sales.

'Winger Allan Saint-Maximin is their prime sellable asset but the club are likely to price him out of any move with the Frenchman valued in the £70m bracket.

'That means they will have to be creative in their pay structure on deals or rely on loans.'

This comes after the Frenchman admitted in an interview with talkSPORT last week that he'd be forced to consider his future if the club continued to fight for relegation - saying he wants to see Newcastle follow in Leicester's footsteps by competing with the 'big six' and fighting for silverware.

As for Bruce's alleged budget, we're going to be reliant on a few loans, the odd free agent and player sales to help free up funds for the likes of Joe Willock.

Our on-loan goal machine may well end up staying at Arsenal in the end, but any permanent move for him, Hamza Choudhury or Kristoffer Ajer (three players mentioned as targets in The Mail's piece) won't seem possible if we don't find a way of boosting Bruce's budget.

Right now, I just hope we keep a hold of ASM, re-sign Willems on a free, sign a centre-back, a striker to provide more reliable cover than Dwight Gayle and bring Willock back - even if it's for another season on loan!