Aberdeen striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas hopes his new-found friendship with player-coach Scott Brown can reap the rewards for the Dons on the field.
The former Livingston forward and ex-Celtic captain have hit it off instantly at their new club and the man known as JET is eager to see the partnership pay off on the pitch.
The Aberdeen attacker said: “We hadn’t really spoken before I came here. I saw him in Edinburgh three days before I came up to sign.
“We got on really well and we had a laugh. Since then, things have grown quite well and hopefully we can take that same relationship on to the pitch.”
Emmanuel-Thomas and Brown will play together for the first time on Thursday when the Dons face Caley Thistle in a closed-doors friendly at Cormack Park and the new Dons striker is excited to switch focus to matches following two weeks of training and bounce games between the squad.
📅 We will continue our preparations for Season 2021/22 as we face @AberdeenFC in a closed doors friendly match this Thursday at Cormack Park
👉https://t.co/BewnXYnTg5 pic.twitter.com/4kHMA7aIZv
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) July 6, 2021
He said: “It has been good. The boys have made me feel welcome and all the rest of the boys who have come in.
“We really seem to be enjoying it, everybody has a smile on their face and we have our first game coming up.”
Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass has wasted little time in reshaping his squad and Emmanuel-Thomas believes the players are supportive of the style of football the boss wants to implement this season.
He said: “We have to buy into what the manager wants and how he wants to play. It is not going to be much different.
“Managers have different styles and it is all about contributing what you bring. I will do what the manager wants and hopefully it will all come together and help our performances when the games start.”
Emmanuel-Thomas will wear shirt number 14 during his time at Pittodrie, the same number worn by his former mentor at Arsenal, Thierry Henry.
The Dons striker credits Henry’s guidance as a key influence during his time at the Gunners, but insists his squad number at Aberdeen is nothing more than a coincidence.
He said: “I had numerous conversations with Thierry Henry when I was younger about playing as a striker.
“That was before I actually moved into playing as a striker as I had played centre-back for the whole of my career.
“I made my debut for Arsenal at centre-half, which was frustrating, as I didn’t enjoy playing centre-half.
“Obviously it helped me learn different aspects of the game and what defenders like and what they don’t like.
“Speaking to people like Thierry Henry, I collected information, retained it and crafted certain aspects of my game off things that he told me.
“That was probably the best part of my career in terms of taking advantage.”
On why he is number 14, he added: “No reason really. Number on the shirt for me doesn’t change anything, it is just a shirt number.”
