Scotland winger Ryan Fraser will need a thick skin

Bournemouth departure left a sour taste

Ryan Fraser refused a short-term contract with Bournemouth. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire

Ryan Fraser may be the only player who is quite happy that the new English Premier League season is kicking off this weekend without any supporters inside stadiums.

Because there’s no doubt the Scotland international winger is going to need a thick skin to go along with his unapologetically single-minded approach to his career as he begins a new chapter with Newcastle United.

The manner of Fraser’s departure from Bournemouth, for whom he refused to play in their ultimately unsuccessful post-lockdown bid to avoid relegation to the Championship at the end of last season, has trashed the 26-year-old’s reputation in the eyes of many. An example of the more extreme opprobrium Fraser can expect to be targeted with came from talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, who described him as “a wretched individual” and “a turd”.

Fraser’s decision not to turn out for Bournemouth beyond the expiry of his contract in June, rejecting a short-term extension which was accepted by other players in similar situations in the Premier League, is easy ammunition for those who regard professional footballers as inherently selfish. But if the optics of Fraser’s departure from Bournemouth are undoubtedly poor, he is hardly obliged to follow anyone else’s moral compass while he is working in a league where serving mammon has become its overarching principle.

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