Keith Downie has provided a lunchtime update on our pursuit of former Bournemouth winger and current free agent Ryan Fraser.
Sky Sports’ North-East correspondent reports that an agreement has not yet been reached over the Scottish international’s wages, with that being the main hurdle to overcome now he’s available on a Bosman.
So, that’s the ‘bad news’ and goes against reports yesterday that personal terms were sorted, but the good news is that Fraser is believed to be keen to make the move north so he can be closer to his family in Aberdeen:
‘Newcastle have held talks with free agent Ryan Fraser, however the two parties have yet to come to an agreement over wages
‘Players who are free agents can often demand higher wages which can make deals tougher to negotiate.
‘Understand Fraser is keen on a move north north though to be nearer his family in Aberdeen.’
As Downie states, the downside of free agents is their ability to demand big wages due to the lack of transfer fee – so we’ll have to hope his demands aren’t astronomical and something that can be agreed on soon.
This update does go against what Luke Edwards reported for The Telegraph yesterday, however, with his ‘exclusive’ suggesting that we believed terms had already been agreed with the 26-year-old and that we were simply waiting on his final decision.
On the flip side, the Shields Gazette’s Miles Startforth reported this morning that an agreement was ‘very close’.
Who knows what’s really going on, but one thing is pretty certain – Ryan Fraser on a free would be a very handy signing for Steve Bruce and the sort of boost we badly need ahead of the new season.
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