Southampton manager Russell Martin has been warned that an imminent transfer is ‘not a great signing’.
Southampton are preparing for an immediate return to the Premier League having won promotion via the Championship play-off final at the end of May.
Now that the celebrations have died down, attention has started to turn to next season and how Russell Martin can keep the St Mary’s club in the top flight.
A lot of this will come down to the business Southampton are able to do this summer and they have made a strong start with Taylor Harwood-Bellis‘ loan from Manchester City made permanent once promotion was confirmed.
The club now look set to complete their second transfer of the off-season, but have been warned it is not a deal that will excite supporters.
Adam Blackmore gives view on imminent Ryan Fraser signing
Like Harwood-Bellis, Ryan Fraser spent last season on loan at the Saints.
Whilst 22-year-old Harwood-Bellis is forging his way in the professional game, Fraser’s loan move was more about reviving a career that had gone very flat at Newcastle United with the 30-year-old frozen out.
Fraser was an important member of the squad that achieved promotion, scoring some crucial goals as well as playing an important role in the play-offs but BBC Solent producer Alan Blackmore is not convinced his signing is a particularly great one for Southampton.
Talking on the latest edition of the Saints and Sinners podcast, Blackmore gave his view on the potential transfer as he said: “He’s never going to go back to Newcastle is he. My view on that is this…I like ‘Wee Man’. I think he’s a squad player.
“I think he’s done well in the Premier League probably for one to two seasons at Bournemouth between 2016 and 2018.
“And then I would say he’s a good man to have around at 30 years of age, but if he’s starting every game in the Premier League I would be surprised because he didn’t actually start that many in the Championship.
“I don’t think he’s a great signing is my point. If you’re going to get me to be blunt about it, I think he’s a good signing for a number of reasons, I don’t think he’s a great signing. He’s an ok signing, I’ve got him as a 6.5 out of ten.”
Fraser provides Southampton squad with Premier League experience
With Stuart Armstrong confirmed to be departing this summer following the end of his deal, as well as Che Adams and Alex McCarthy facing uncertain futures with their deals set to end, Southampton lack top level experience.
Collectively, those three players have 420 Premier League appearances under their belt, so to lose all three ahead of a top flight return could be damaging to the squad.
Whilst Fraser’s best years may be behind him, he does himself have 173 Premier League appearances and that could be the key reason Martin wants his former Scotland teammate to return next season.
With Newcastle set to terminate his contract to allow him to join the club for free, it seems a no-brainer for Southampton to welcome the winger back next season even if he is not going to start every week.