You always know when a particular rumour has some credibility to it and the speculation linking us with Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser appears to be one such rumour.
There is so much gossip that it is never easy to know what to believe or what to dismiss, however, for me, when a player speaks on the record or a club’s representative or someone close, to the player then I will certainly give much more credence to that particular rumour and that is what is happening with Ryan Fraser.
For starters, the player himself, when asked about being linked with Arsenal, said: “I’m not going to lie, it’s very nice.
“It means you are are doing something right.
“They are a huge club, a massive club.”
Then you add in the fact that he is on the verge of entering the final year of his contract, that he has already rejected an extension, and now you have the media claiming that the Cherries are ready to cash in on the 25-year-old this summer rather than lose him for free next year.
Bournemouth will demand a big fee but to some extent, their hands are tied, they cannot play hardball too much or they will be unable to cash in on the Scotland international, they will have to be reasonable with their valuation.
There is also the possibility that Fraser himself may decide to see out the final year of his contract so that he can demand a huge signing on bonus.
However, if we put in a reasonably sized offer I find it hard to believe that the forward would turn down the opportunity of signing with us in the summer, just too many inherent risks in waiting a year, his form could drop off, he could get injured etc.
The bottom line for me is this, I actually do see this one happening.