Ryan Fraser’s Newcastle United career is all but over ahead of the Carabao Cup final.
The winger, who hasn’t played first-team football since last October and has only played 311 minutes this season, has been told to train with the club’s Under-21 squad ahead of Sunday’s game at Wembley.
The Gazette understands that Fraser is unlikely to return to the squad this season – and that the club sees his future as being elsewhere.
When asked why Fraser hadn’t been on the bench, Eddie Howe last month described him as a “valued member of the squad.” Fraser is under contract at St James’ Park until 2025.
“No, he’s not injured; he’s training,” said United’s head coach. He just needs to keep training hard and well.
“He’s a valuable member of the team. I know him better than anyone, and I know what he’s capable of, so I’d love to see him in a Newcastle shirt again.”
Fraser signed as a free agent with Newcastle in 2020. When the Premier League resumed after a hiatus for Covid-19 earlier that year, the Scotland international chose not to sign a short-term contract extension that would have allowed him to play for Bournemouth.
The club was relegated at the end of the postponed 2019/20 season, and Fraser addressed his decision not to play on after joining Newcastle.
Speaking at the time, Fraser said: “I never wanted it to end like that, from what we went through from start to finish.
“No-one saw that this virus would come. If this virus didn’t come, I would have played every game under my contract.
“Everyone’s got their opinions. I respect everyone’s opinion, good or bad. I wasn’t under contract, so I didn’t feel like I should play the games … (in case) I get an injury.
“Obviously, I wanted to help the team. I didn’t want them to go down. I feel like if I’d played, without sounding big-headed or big time, I like to think I would kept us up, which hurts even more.
“But I wasn’t under contract, so I didn’t actually do anything wrong, but I can see why people think that.”
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