‘Incredible talent’: Manager raves about his player after his honest comments on Arsenal links

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Ryan Fraser was linked with Arsenal last summer but a move didn’t materialise for the winger.

Eddie Howe has raved about the ‘incredible talent’ that is Ryan Fraser after his honest comments about his summer links with Arsenal affecting his performances this season.

The Cherries secured a much-needed win over the weekend, with Fraser providing an assist, and Howe admitted that he urged his own supporters to back the Scotsman following his Arsenal admission. This is what Howe told BBC Sport about his player:

“I asked pre-game that they [the supporters] support him and back him, as he’s an incredible talent, and he’s a great lad,” Howe told BBC Sport.

“He wants to play well for the team and the club – they were brilliant with him today and he was very good in return, in terms of his defensive performance – especially with 10 men he was excellent and he showed how important he is for us.”

The Mirror previously reported last April, heading into the summer transfer market, that Arsenal were keen on Fraser, whose contract was, at the time and still is, due to expire at the end of this current campaign.

A move didn’t materialise for the Scotsman, and since then, he has been off-colour and producing poor displays. Fraser admitted that people are now well aware of his situation from the summer, as he shared that he apologised to his teammates for his form dipping as a result of that speculation.

“I think everyone knows what’s happened now, to be honest with you,” Fraser told BBC Solent Sport. “It obviously affected me the first four months of the season. I was obviously myself. I hadn’t played for the team. I am honest enough to admit that.

“I look back at it and spoke to my family about it and it looked bad on me and my team. So, this last month or so, I have been trying to put it right – I have apologised to the lads.”

From Fraser’s perspective, a move to Arsenal now seems very unlikely and it’s just a case of him focusing and proving his worth during these final few months of the season.

Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, and both from an attacking and defensive perspective, if Fraser can regain that form that saw Arsenal seemingly take interest in him then it’ll improve their chances of survival.

Over the course of the season, Fraser has played 28 games in all competitions, scoring one goal and supplying three assist for his teammates [transfermarkt].