Newcastle United winger pictured at airport amid transfer hope & personal terms agreed

The 30-year-old spent last season on loan at the Saints, making 44 appearances and scoring eight goals as the South Coast club achieved promotion via the Championship play-offs.

Made surplus to requirement at Newcastle having fallen out with head coach Eddie Howe halfway through the 2022-23 campaign, Fraser has made no secret of his desire to return to St Mary’s for a second stint.

And he was pictured in the vicinity on Sunday when fan Mitchell Rankin uploaded a selfie with Fraser to X - formerly known as Twitter - from the departure lounge at Southampton airport.

Rankin wrote: “Wasn’t expecting to bump into Wee Man Ryan Fraser at Southampton Airport. Bring him home!

“Must stress this was in departures with a plane back to Newcastle which I’m assuming he was on. He said to my dad when he saw him that he loved it here last season, and it’s here or no where. Make of that what you will.

“Update: Wee Man’s plane is leaving the airport. Am praying he’s been on the South Coast today finalising the move, but who knows.”

Howe was unable to provide an update on Fraser’s future when asked last week. That said, the Scotland international is still expected to leave St James’ Park - and Southampton remains his most likely destination with personal terms understood to have already been agreed.

However, Fraser still has one-year left on the bumper five-year contract he signed when he joined as a free agent from AFC Bournemouth in 2020.

"I think we're all hopeful that at some point that will happen but he's contracted to Newcastle,” Saints boss Russell Martin said last month. “I think he would love to come back and we would love to keep him. Everyone wants him.

"Me, the fans, the owners, the players and the staff - Wee Man himself, but he is under contract at another club and a good contract.

“It's their [Newcastle] prerogative to do what they want with him at the moment and unfortunately for us and for Wee Man, it's not what we want.

"There'll come a time where if a deal can't be done with Newcastle, we're going to have to move on to other people and I think that's a natural thing.”