Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin has paid tribute to former manager Steve Bruce.

Bruce left last week after the club's takeover by their new Saudi Arabian-supported owners.

Saint-Maximin told Canal+: "It's very difficult for me, he's a coach who was very sincere with me and I was sincere with him. He helped me a lot in every sense of the word, he came to pick me up when I was in Nice.

"He was always honest with me, he trusted me, he always had the right words. We always talk about a lot of things in football, but the human side is really important to me and his departure is very difficult.

"Even more when I know that he was not necessarily treated at his fair value."