Allan Saint-Maximin didn’t come to Charlotte for a short stay. Announced Monday as the club’s newest Designated Player in the roster spot Wilfried Zaha left behind, the French winger already has bigger plans than his three-year deal. He talked openly about wanting to “create a legacy” in Charlotte and stick around well past the length of his contract.
What makes that notable is what he passed up to get here. Even with other offers on the table and the chance to play Champions League football with Lens, Saint-Maximin chose Charlotte’s pitch instead.
Why Charlotte
A lot of it came down to life off the field. Saint-Maximin is a family man who values a quieter, more private routine, and he found that came easily in Charlotte. He pointed to how close everything is, from his kids’ school to the airport to the club, and to a city he sees as calm but full of things to do, with pro basketball, baseball and hockey all nearby. Playing club soccer in the United States, he said, had long been a dream, which made the decision straightforward.
On the field
Saint-Maximin arrives with a well-traveled résumé. At 29 and in his prime, he’s played 12 seasons in Europe plus single seasons in Saudi Arabia and Mexico, racking up 50 goals and 60 assists over 384 appearances. The trademark headband, a fixture of his look since childhood, comes with him. He counts stars like Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé among his close friends, and he doesn’t lack confidence, rating himself among the very best dribblers in the world.
He also made a strong late impression at Lens, helping the club win its first cup in more than a century during a short stint before this move.
Not a Zaha clone
Saint-Maximin is quick to say he isn’t a like-for-like swap for Zaha. He spoke warmly about the departed winger, a Crystal Palace icon who returned to Galatasaray in May after a season-and-a-half on loan and left behind 13 goals and 14 assists in 44 MLS games, while stressing that the two are simply different players. GM Zoran Krneta sees it the same way, describing Saint-Maximin as a more direct, straight-at-defenders dribbler who should create more chances and finish them, making the attack more effective.
The two will share one thing: the No. 10. Asked which number he’d wear, Saint-Maximin didn’t bother spelling it out. Krneta, who admitted he’s whiffed before on talented players who couldn’t handle the spotlight in Charlotte, has no such worry here, expecting his new star to deliver whenever he steps on the field. Charlotte is chasing a third straight Audi MLS Cup Playoffs berth under Dean Smith, and Saint-Maximin is expected to be one of the league’s most dangerous wingers in that push.
