Newcastle boss Steve Bruce insists star man Allan Saint-Maximin will stay on Tyneside this summer

Steve Bruce says Newcastle United do not want to lose Allan Saint-Maximin this summer.

Sportsmail revealed on Friday that the 23-year-old wants an improvement on the terms of the six-year deal he signed last August after arriving for £16million from Nice.

Saint-Maximin has been outstanding for the Magpies this season and is attracting interest from elsewhere.

Steve Bruce wants to keep in-form winger Allan Saint-Maximin (C) at Newcastle this summer

The Geordie boss praised his star man and says he wants to build the team around Frenchman

But Bruce, who has also seen Miguel Almiron linked with Atletico Madrid, said: ‘To be linked with other clubs, they have to be performing well. My job is to make sure they keep performing well and then let that other stuff look after itself.

‘They’ve only been here a short while and they’ve performed very well. Our job is to keep our best players. We certainly don’t want to be losing them – we want to be building around them and that’s the plan.’

Miguel Almiron’s displays of late have linked him with a move away to Atletico Madrid

He added: ‘Allan has only just arrived here. He signed a six-year deal in the summer. If people are talking about him, good. It means he’s doing it on the pitch. That’s all they can focus on and let the rest look after themselves.’

Newcastle have won just once without Saint-Maximin in the starting XI this season and the winger was again the star man during Wednesday’s 4-1 win at Bournemouth, laying on three goals.

He (left) and Almiron (right) have impressed in a promising season for Newcastle and Bruce said he had no intention of letting the in-demand pair leave the club this summer

Bruce said: ‘He gives you something different. He can win you a match. I don’t think there’s many people in the Premier League who could beat three people in five or 10 yards.

‘In that respect he has given us a cutting edge. He’s still got a long way to go but we’re delighted with his improvement and the way he’s adapting to the Premier League now.

‘That has to be the key – can he reach that consistency that top players have? He’s got all the ability to be a top player, it’s now the mental side to do it week in, week out.

‘But he certainly has the natural ingredients to be anything he wants to be.’