Bruce encouraged by Newcastle’s adapting forwards

Steve Bruce is convinced Newcastle forwards Miguel Almiron, Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton will be big hits when they fully adapt to the Premier League. Former Magpies boss Rafael Benitez broke the club’s transfer record in January to sign Paraguay international Almiron in a £21million deal from American Major League Soccer outfit Atlanta United.
The 25-year-old scored 22 goals and registered 21 assists in 70 appearances for Atlanta, helping them win the 2018 MLS Cup before departing for England.
However, he has still not managed to score his first goal for the club after spending 10 months on Tyneside.
Bruce then spent big money in the summer as he set a new record for a transfer deal when he drafted in Joelinton for around £40m from Hoffenheim and also winger Saint-Maximin in a £16m switch from Nice.
Only Joelinton has scored for the club to date – in August’s 1-0 win at Tottenham – while the trio all failed to find the net in Saturday’s impressive 3-2 win at West Ham.
Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez and Jonjo Shelvey were on target but Bruce also took the time to highlight the threat posed by his attacking triumvirate.
And the 58-year-old is in no doubt that once they find their feet in English football, they will strike fear into the heart of many opposition defences this season.
He said: “I’ve said before it takes time, for the lads who’ve come into the team it’s not easy to adapt to it. It was only Allan’s fourth game and he, Almiron and Joe were terrific in their work. “If they can play like that and we get the other side right, we’ll be OK. We were a threat and we caused them all sorts of problems.”
Newcastle’s win lifted them up to 15th place in the Premier League and they are now four points clear of Southampton in the final relegation spot.