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Newcastle United: Steve Bruce reveals Ryan Fraser fitness boost

By Fintan O'Reilly

Posted on December 16, 2020

In his pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Leeds United on Wednesday, Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has revealed that Ryan Fraser has returned to full fitness, explaining that the Scotsman has been back in training “for the past week and a bit.”

This comes after Fraser sat out each of Newcastle’s last four Premier League games, with the Scotland international starting to suffer from thigh problems ahead of the Toon’s 2-0 loss to Southampton last month. However, it now seems as though Fraser’s stint on the sidelines may be over, with Bruce sharing some excitement over the £14.4m-rated man’s return to fitness, declaring that having Fraser back will be “like a new signing” for his team.

Fraser return hands Newcastle a massive boost

If Fraser is back in action for the Toon versus Leeds on Wednesday, then perhaps his return will be coming at just the right time. Per Transfermarkt, Newcastle have three natural left-wingers in their first-team squad, one of whom, Allan Saint-Maximin, is sidelined due to a muscle injury and the other being Christian Atsu, who hasn’t made a single top-flight appearance for the North East club this term.

Had Fraser still been out of action, then perhaps Bruce’s left-wing options would have been looking quite thin but with the 26-year-old summer signing seemingly set to return, it’s fair to say that the 59-year-old coach has been handed a big boost heading into Wednesday’s top-flight fixture.

Fraser had 14 assists in his best Bournemouth season so provides a lot of creativity, and don’t forget – “Wilson and Fraser = goals”.

In other news, it’s been revealed that Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Bin Saquer Al-Nahyan owes over £500,000 to a law firm due to work that they carried out on his failed Newcastle United takeover attempt last year.