Jim Goodwin is fast assembling his Aberdeen squad ahead of new season. Six players have joined the Pittodrie club so far this summer with the boss not ruling out more incomings in the coming weeks.
Bojan Miovski, Jayden Richardson, Ylber Ramadani, Liam Scales, Anthony Stewart and Kelle Roos are the names for Dons fans to get excited about after the former St Mirren boss ordered a mass post-season clear out. Aberdeen kick off their Premier Sports Cup campaign against Peterhead on Sunday July 10 at Pittodrie and there are plenty more names the Red Army will be wanting to see wear red and white come the Premiership commencing at the end of July.
The Dons landed a £4.5million windfall from the sale of young full-back Calvin Ramsay to Liverpool and have already paid significant transfer fees for three of their signings. It can't get much worse than a 10th-place finish last season so here Record Sport takes a look at what business the Dons still need to do this summer in order to be competitive. To that end, supporters can expect more to come, with Goodwin likely to make another three or four.
Defence
Every good team is based on a solid defence and that's exactly what it looks like Goodwin is trying to achieve after bringing in Scales (Celtic) and Stewart (Wycombe) to challenge David Bates and Ross McCrorie at the heart of the Dons' backline. Declan Gallagher was offloaded and joined St Mirren on a two-year-deal.
That leaves a gap in the defence if Goodwin wants to have competition in every area of the pitch. And reports in the Netherlands stated on Wednesday that ADO Den Haag defender Jamal Amofa was a target with his contract at the Eredivise side expiring today. Record Sport can confirm he is on the club’s list of potential targets.
Up front
Depth in attack has also got to be a priority after news emerged the club were open to listening to offers for Christian Ramirez. The American forward bagged 16 goals last season but was left with very little competition for a starting berth due to injuries and loss of form to Marley Watkins and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, which started to take its toll on his performances.
Goodwin has also signed North Macedonia international Miovski from MTK Budapest and he is capable of playing out wide, as a second striker as well as a lone striker. But with head scout Darren Mowbray travelling the globe in order to unearth new talent, we shouldn't rule out another striker coming to Cormack Park.
Creativity
Another position Goodwin has openly admitted to targeting is a creative midfielder. Aberdeen have struggled to score enough goals in recent seasons and that partly comes down to the chances that are created. Wolves' Connor Ronan is one name that continually gets linked with a reunion with Goodwin after the 24-year-old spent last season on loan at St Mirren. Goodwin has admitted he likes him as a player.
But it also seems like Wigan’s Jamie McGrath could be making a move up to the north-east after a series of cryptic tweets from Dons chairman Dave Cormack suggested the board were working on a deal. If McGrath was to come, it would more than likely be in the form of a loan deal due to the wages he is on at the Latics.
On Ronan, Goodwin said: “I have been linked with pretty much every player I worked with at St Mirren from February until now, and I’m not going to deny the fact I have a lot of admiration for Connor Ronan as a player and as a person. He is a terrifically talented player and won all of the Player of the Year awards at St Mirren last season.
“I sold St Mirren to him and told him I would get him in that Irish set up. I banged the drum for him although he got himself into the Ireland squad. I was having dialogue with the FAI and making sure they came to watch him because he deserved the opportunity. We got him into the squad but unfortunately we weren’t able to him a cap like we did with Jamie McGrath that time.
“Connor is a terrific player and has no end of admirers looking at him just now I would imagine. I’m not going to deny the fact I would love to work with him again.”
The Red Army will be dreaming of Martin Boyle sensing the urge to return to his hometown after he suffered relegation just 13 games into his time at Al Faisaly. While all eyes are on Lewis Ferguson who has been subject to a reported £2million bid (in reality we believe it was £1.5m) from English Championship outfit Millwall and is attracting interest from abroad.
Here’s how the Dons could line up in the new season, both with what they have now and what they still need to do in the transfer market..
