'What a baller he is' - Ba would love to play with Newcastle United's Saint-Maximin

Istanbul Basaksehir striker Demba Ba was impressed with Allan Saint-Maximin's display for Newcastle United against Liverpool and has revealed he would jump at the chance to play with the former France youth international.

In Saturday's encounter between the Reds and the Magpies at Anfield, which ended in a 1-1 draw, Mohamed Salah had given the hosts a third-minute lead before substitute Joseph Willock ensured that the match ended on a no winner, no vanquished note.

Although Steve Bruce's men have now played out nine draws in the 2020-21 campaign, the 24-year-old was one of the standout performers as he was a thorn in the flesh of Jurgen Klopp's men.

For his contributions, he accounted for 58 touches, eight dribbles, 23 passes and a passing accuracy of 73.9%.

That caught the fancy of the veteran Senegalese forward and at 35 years old, the former Chelsea and West Ham United man admitted that sharing a locker room with Saint-Maximin would be a welcome addition to his footballing bucket list.

"How much I would've love to play with Saint-Maximin. What a baller he is!" Ba tweeted.

Thanks to this result, Newcastle are almost safe in their quest to avoid relegation. With 36 points from 33 league matches, they are now nine points ahead of Fulham in the final relegation spot.

Unbeaten in their last four Premier League outings, they face Mikel Arteta's Arsenal next time out on May 2.

After spells at Rouen, Mouscron, 1899 Hoffenheim and West Ham, former Senegal international Ba teamed up with the St James' Park giants on a three-year deal in 2011, making his debut on August 13 in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal.

Three seasons later, he joined Chelsea for an undisclosed fee. Before his move to his Basaksehir-based outfit in January 2019, he had represented Besiktas, Shanghai Shenhua and Goztepe.

In the ongoing campaign, he has scored five goals in 26 Turkish Super Lig matches for Ayut Kocaman's team. The Gray Owls welcome Alanyaspor to the Fatih Terim Stadium.

They currently occupy the 17th spot in the Super Lig log having accrued just 36 points from 34 outings - a point away from the relegation zone.