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Barcelona news: Ryan Fraser tipped to surpass Lionel Messi stat by Bournemouth boss Howe
EDDIE HOWE has backed Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser to notch more assists than Lionel Messi this season.
Lionel Messi collects his FIFTH Golden Boot award
Fraser, who joined Bournemouth for just £400,000 from Aberdeen in 2013, has been a revelation on the south coast this season.
Fraser is currently top of the Premier League charts on goals created with nine, which is just one behind current European leader Lionel Messi.
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Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has backed his player to go on and overtake four-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi as top creator in Europe’s top five leagues.
When told about Fraser being so close to Messi on the assist leaderboard, Howe said: "The stat in itself is a very powerful one for an attacking player.
“It’s great for Ryan to hear that. He has done so well this season.
"He has had decisive moments for us, whether that is scoring goals or creating goals.
“He has been a regular goal creator and goalscorer for us.”
Fraser made his Scotland debut in June 2017, scoring his first goal in the 4-0 win over Albania last November.
For Bournemouth, Fraser has scored 13 goals in his 75 Premier League appearances, with four of those coming this season.
"His set-piece delivery has been excellent. With the assists, we work hard on our set-plays and Ryan’s delivery is key to that," Howe added.
“One of the first things we saw when we started to work with Ryan was his quality. The quality and technical ability is so high.
He’s got two lovely feet and a very good football brain
"He’s got two lovely feet and a very good football brain. It was more a case of just wanting him to show everybody what he could do on a consistent basis and he has begun to do that."
“The finish for his goal against Watford was brilliant. It looked easy but it wasn’t. He had a similar chance just before that which the keeper saved when he went the other side.
“He probably learned from that one and went the opposite side. I thought it was a great finish.”