EDDIE HOWE has confirmed that Allan Saint-Maximin is in talks about leaving Newcastle United – and admitted he is set to sacrifice the Frenchman in order to be able to make signings of his own.

Saint-Maximin was not at Ibrox this evening as Newcastle continued their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 win over Rangers, and is not due to be part of the squad that will fly to the United States tomorrow ahead of the Premier League Summer Series.

Instead, the winger will hold further talks with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli, who are close to agreeing a deal that would see him make a permanent switch to the Middle East.

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Howe said: “Allan is in discussions regarding a move to another club. Nothing is confirmed, nothing is done, it’s still at the early stages, but that is why he wasn’t here today.

“There’s no immediate plans for him to join us tomorrow (on the flight to the US), but we’ll wait and see. These things can change and he could end up with us again, and if that is the case, then we’d love to welcome him back.”

Howe has repeatedly insisted he wants to keep Saint-Maximin at St James’ Park, but the reality of the Financial Fair Play restrictions that Newcastle are working within have dictated that he will almost certainly be leaving Tyneside in the next few days.

Having shelled out around £55m to sign Sandro Tonali from AC Milan, Newcastle are already close to the limit of the spending that is permitted under Premier League rules.

They are keen to sign Harvey Barnes from Leicester City, with Howe also hoping to bring in two defenders before the transfer window closes at the end of next month.

The Newcastle boss said: “With Financial Fair Play, you sort of have to trade otherwise for us, this summer, we would be stuck in a position where we couldn’t recruit players the other way. That’s how Financial Fair Play works and we understand that.

“Maxi is a top player and we definitely don’t want to lose him. We want to strengthen the group, but sometimes these things happen and we have to accept that.

“It’s early to speak of Maxi in the past tense at Newcastle, but certainly our respect and love for him is the same as the supporters. The supporters love him and we love him. If he does go, it will be a really difficult moment for all of us.”

Talks with Leicester over Barnes continue, but when asked whether anything had changed in terms of incomings since he last spoke publicly at Gateshead at the weekend, Howe said: “No. Not currently.”