Ryan Fraser insists he has no intention of living in the shadow of some of Newcastle United’s greats – and believes that the current crop of players are capable of making their own “history”. The winger is getting closer to full fitness after missing pre-season but one significant second half moment won it for Newcastle on Sunday against Everton as he skipped down the left-wing then looped the ball to the back post to Callum Wilson, who finished off the move to score what proved to be the all-important strike. The goal would have come as no shock to Bournemouth fans who watched on as the telepathy between the pair helped deliver success on the South Coast before last season’s relegation. And while there’s plenty of room for improvement, Fraser makes it clear the current squad can’t live in the past. When asked about what players he remembered growing up, he told the Chronicle: “Obviously Shearer, you had all that as a kid.
Ryan Fraser said “But for me, I want to make my own history. You can look back all you want but it’s looking at this as a project, I want to be here five years or more. So it’s going to be a project. I want those who come in after me to say: ‘Ryan Fraser wore 21, now I want it’. I want that history and want to make it myself. As a team we want to be looking back and saying: ‘Remember the seasons where we got the club back to where they want to be’. That’s what I want, no offence looking back on history, that’s nice, but I want to make my own with this team. With the money getting spent in the Premier League nowadays and people spending £500million like it’s nothing, the times have changed. But look, you can spend all that…the manager here is bringing in a close-knit group of players. We are trying to be a family in the group and I like the look at that. You can easily be an individual at a massive club like this. With this manager, I can see things happening. The squad go out for meals together. People might say: ‘Get on the training pitch’ and we are on the training pitch. But it’s things away from the training pitch and you start finding stuff out, not just football, about family and bits you respect about the player mentioned. The manager is very good at that. He is making us all come together and I can already see it.”
