Aberdeen look set to miss out on a potential £6 million windfall after Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe insisted Ryan Fraser will stay at the club ahead of next week's English transfer deadline.
Aberdeen have a 20 per cent sell-on clause which was inserted into the Scotland international’s contract when he left Pittodrie for then-League One Bournemouth in January 2013 in a £400,000 move.
Fraser, who netted seven goals and made 14 assists last season, has been consistently linked with a £30 million move to Arsenal.
And he's also been offered a bumper new deal by Bournemouth.
But Howe has revealed 25-year-old Fraser, who is out of contract at the end of the season, looks likely to stay with the club ahead of the August 8 transfer dealine for English teams meaning Derek McInnes won't be getting a huge windfall.
Howe said: "Yeah, I am confident that we can keep the squad together and keep adding players the other way to make us improve.
"I think the speculation is part and parcel of being a footballer at this level.
"Especially if you’re excelling and doing well, you’re going to have people talk about you, write about you and speculate.
"I would urge any player in that situation to ignore the talk and just play football and do what you do best. I think Ryan’s done that very well.
"There have been no developments in terms of his new contract situation. But it goes in line with what I said earlier, we are very keen to keep our best players."
