Things have been going brilliantly for Eddie Howe and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) since the latter took over at Newcastle and appointed the former.
Full houses at St. James’ Park are almost guaranteed these days, with the Magpies playing the type of football that Kevin Keegan’s swashbucklers did back in the 1990s.
The players have barely put a foot wrong recently, and they were a whisker away from capturing the club’s first major silverware since 1955 last season, beaten in the final of the Carabao Cup by Man United.
Qualification to the Champions League for the first time in two decades will have gone some way to making up for that, and everyone connected with the club will surely be looking forward to what else is to come this season.
That won’t include Ryan Fraser who had been frozen out by Howe for the last few months and who has now moved to Championship side, Southampton.
“It feels really good. The minute Russ (Martin) phoned me, it was something I really wanted to happen. I just can’t wait to get started now and help the team out in any way I can,” he was quoted as saying by Chronicle Live.
“The club doesn’t deserve to be down here. We need to get back up as soon as possible this season, and all the lads will be doing everything we can to get us there. I’m just so happy to be here.”
It’s a move that makes perfect sense for all parties.
Fraser wasn’t even handed a squad number by Howe for the 2023/24 season, indicating without a word being said what the club’s intentions were.
The move means that the player can get his career back on track, and with the added motivation of helping the Saints try and get back into the Premier League at the first attempt.