New Aberdeen signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has vowed to score 20 to 25 goals in his first season at Pittodrie.
The 30-year-old issued an ominous warning to defenders that he aims to make a major goal-scoring impact for Stephen Glass’ new look team.
Emmanuel-Thomas insists he is in peak condition for his tilt at hitting that scoring target – starting with BK Hacken in the Uefa Europa Conference League on July 22.
Former Livingston attacker Emmanuel-Thomas, who penned a two year contract, is also relishing linking up with United States international striker Christian Ramirez.
Aberdeen have signed Ramirez, 30, from MLS side Houston Dynamo subject to a visa and a medical.
On his goal target Emmanuel-Thomas, aka JET, said: “In all competitions I am looking at easily more than 20 to 25.
“That is for me personally but is just something that I have to focus on game by game.”
Why didn’t Aberdeen score more last season
Manager Stephen Glass has completely revamped the Aberdeen attack after the side struggled badly in front of goal last season.
Aberdeen slumped to the joint worst league goal return in the club’s 118 year history in the 2020-21 campaign.
However Emmanuel-Thomas reckons he would have scored regularly for Aberdeen last season due to the amount of chances created, and wasted, by the Reds.
He intends to deliver that cutting edge in attack.
He said: “I played against Aberdeen three times last season and watched numerous games.
“You also watch clips of previous games before you play them.
“You get to see how many chances are created from wide areas, midfield and stuff.
“How they didn’t score more goals is surprising.
“I know every striker has maybe different form and can have a tough time.
“But with the amount of chances created last season, for me personally, I felt like I would score a lot of goals here due to the style of play and the chances created.”
Glass ramped up the revamp of his attack by securing Houston Dynamo striker Ramirez until 2023, pending the issue of a visa.
Emmanuel-Thomas hopes to strike up a strong partnership with the United States international.
He said: “It is always good to have a partner.
“I knew I was the only striker but it is good to have another striker who likes to get involved.
““I like to drop a bit deeper and to take players on and I can do that if there is another focal point in the team, which allows me to get more involved in the game.”
‘I was never going to turn down Aberdeen’
JET netted nine times for Livingston last season, three against Aberdeen.
He scored a brace in a Scottish Cup penalty-defeat to the Dons on April 17 then two weeks later scored a superb volley in a 2-1 loss.
Within days of firing a double past Aberdeen boss Glass made an approach for the striker.
He said: “We played two games quite close together.
“A couple of days after that first Aberdeen game, we made contact with Aberdeen over coming up here.
“I had two decent performances and I must have shown the manager something and it has benefited me on my end.
“Hopefully, it can also benefit on Aberdeen’s end for the next couple of years.
“I spoke to the club and then I had a phone call with the manager.
“He explained what he wanted to do and where he wanted to take it.
“We also have Europe and these things are all incentives and there were a lot of positives to swing me towards Aberdeen.
“Aberdeen is a big club and I was never going to turn it down.”
In peak condition and ready
Emmanuel-Thomas endured 15 months without game action before signing for Livingston in October last year and admitted it took him time to reach full match sharpness.
The former Arsenal striker insists he is in prime condition now and ready to make an immediate scoring mark with the Dons after training hard during the summer.
He said: “When I went into Livingston, I had been out of the game for 15 months for various reasons and Covid related stuff.
““It took me some time to get fit.
“I went in and started playing but it takes time to get into top condition.
“Coming towards the end of the season I was getting there.
“I worked hard over the summer and had a training camp just before I came up.
“The first week we came back we did a lot of conditioning work and it has benefited me a lot.
“So I am in a much better place physically than when I first went into Livingston.”
Sweating it out during summer training
During his tough summer work-out regime Emmanuel-Thomas also wore sweat suits on runs.
He said: “In the close season I tend to wear a sweat suit especially when I am on holiday.
Get It In .. Then start the day 💪🏾💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/7tIwGjp1VN
— JET ✈️ (@OfficialJET10) June 5, 2021
“That is more just a conditioned run, it is not too fast and not too slow.
“It is just that one pace for 35 to 40 minutes.
“Then I go to the gym to do more work.
“That was to keep my body in as best condition as possible.”
Now it will be defenders that are sweating as JET aims to smash 20 goals plus in his first season with Aberdeen.
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