ABERDEEN are set to radically overhaul their youth set-up in an attempt to ensure more of their academy players make the successful step up to the first team in future following an extensive review of their entire football infrastructure.
The Pittodrie club have, like many Scottish clubs, found it difficult to justify their extensive investment in developing homegrown talent in recent years due to the challenges presented by Brexit as well as an outdated FIFA training compensation matrix.
However, the Scottish Cup winners, who plough £2.2m a year into rearing potential stars of tomorrow, are determined to retain their elite status within the Club Academy Scotland (CAS) framework.
However, Aberdeen have decided they will not compete in the CAS Under-19 league going forward because they feel “playing in a season-long, non-competitive youth league” was failing to produce the desired results.
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They are set to appoint a specialist transition coach who will work with a group of young players who will train with Jimmy Thelin’s squad on a daily basis and gain international experience from a “bespoke games programme”.
Aberdeen director of football Steven Gunn explained: “Given the challenge that Scottish football has in getting emerging talent into a first team environment, the decision has been taken to adopt a different approach, focusing on quality and not quantity.
“We are quite far down the line in terms of our recruitment of a transition coach and hope to have someone appointed in the coming weeks. This is a critical role, so we need to ensure we get it right.
“The transition coach will work alongside manager Jimmy Thelin and the wider first team coaching staff to help ensure a smooth and effective pathway exists, bridging the gap between the academy and the demands of senior professional football, technically, physically and mentally.”
“However, we also need to trust that we are still going to be competitive because ultimately, we must win games of football. We are committed to keeping the pathway open so that when those opportunities do arise the space is there for our young players.
“We must take a much more aggressive approach to strategic recruitment of younger players, both from Scotland and abroad, to complement the very best players progressing from our own academy.
“This is something Aberdeen has deployed with great success in different periods of our history and has brought forward players like Willie Miller, Alex McLeish, Arthur Graham and current board director Willie Garner.
“The club has committed additional budget both operationally in youth talent identification and in potential transfer and compensation fees to maximise our outcomes in the development of young players.”
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Meanwhile, Aberdeen made their fifth signing of the summer last night when they signed Icelandic youth internationalist Kjartan Mar Kjartansson from Stjarnan subject to international clearance and visa formalities. The 18-year-old has signed a four year deal.
Thelin said, “Kjartan is a player who our scouting department have been aware of and tracking for some time. We are pleased to have signed him given the significant interest from some big clubs. For a player still so young, he has played an impressive volume of minutes for the first team and the Icelandic youth international squads.
“He has a very good defensive and positional mind for the game. He has performed well for Stjarnan when winning possession back for his team, makes key interceptions and protects the team in transition – all the qualities we look for at the base of our midfield. It’ s impressive when you consider his age.
“He is a very exciting talent, but we also know we need to work with him to develop further, and he will take time to adapt to a new club, a new league and a new country. We must be patient, we must nurture him and at times we must protect him to ensure we are able to realise his significant potential.”
