Arsenal: Ryan Fraser value depends on winger perspective

According to The Times, Arsenal are considering a move for Ryan Fraser. His value as a signing depends on how highly the need for a winger is viewed.

The summer transfer window is in view. With it, the Arsenal rumours begin to surface. What will happen with the likes of Danny Welbeck and Shkodran Mustafi? Could Samuel Umtiti be forced out at Barcelona? Will Unai Emery splash his budget on a left-back? These are the questions that are slowly answered over the coming weeks and months.

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And one name that has risen this week is Bournemouth winger, Ryan Fraser. According to The Times, Emery sees the Scottish international as an ideal solution to the failed Denis Suarez experiment, with the 25-year-old viewed as a cheap but productive wide attacker.

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Fraser’s contract expires in 2020 and he has said this week that he is flattered to be reportedly attracting interest from a club of Arsenal’s size. While no mention of price has yet been made, it is reasonable to expect a semi-cheap deal given the contract situation and Fraser’s presumed desire to move. Whether this interest materialises into a genuine pursuit remains to be seen, but given the position fit, the price and the age profile, many elements of the report fit together.

For some, Fraser may feel like a rather underwhelming name. With Champions League football the aim, can a player who has never played at a level higher than a mid-Premier League team really compete for a top European side? There has been talk of Nicolas Pepe and Wilfried Zaha all season. Fraser is not the same calibre of name as either.

Nevertheless, it would be a little haughty to suggest that Arsenal are ‘too good’ for Fraser. Realism must take hold at some point. This is a footballer who has 10 assists and six goals this season for a middling team. That is not to be scoffed at.

Perhaps most pertinently, the winger position might not be seen as the first priority of the summer business. Where some fans view the wide positions as the greatest need, one that requires the most investment in high-calibre solutions, others see it as a secondary issue, behind centre-back, left-back and central midfield.

Holding that perspective casts a very different light on the potential Fraser addition. As a supplementary option to solve a lesser need for a cheaper price, there is nothing wrong with signing a productive, experienced but still young and improving Premier League player. It is when you want them to be the star solution to the biggest need that you encounter difficulty.

This is the crux of the Fraser debate. How do you view the winger position? If it is a major problem, then Fraser probably feels like a disappointing target; if it is a secondary issue, then Fraser is likely viewed as an astute possible acquisition. Let’s hope, then, that Emery and Arsenal see him as the latter.