Liverpool target Calvin Ramsay insists he is blocking out the mounting transfer speculation surrounding him.
English giants Liverpool are set to launch a summer swoop for the 18-year-old.
Leeds United also aim to land the teen, recently named SFWA Young Player of the Year.
Aberdeen anticipate bids for the teenager during the summer transfer window.
Chairman Dave Cormack recently said the Dons do not have to sell.
Cormack insists offers will only be accepted for top stars if they make financial sense to the club and come at the right time.
Ramsay can expect to be at the heart of a transfer speculation maelstrom… again.
Day after day throughout the winter window the teen saw stories linking him to massive clubs on the back page of newspapers and on social media.
Clubs in the English top flight, Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga were all tracking the Academy Youth Graduate.
Valuable lessons were learnt in January.
He said: “It (speculation) was in the papers nearly every day.
“When I was in the shops I would see myself in the paper. I’m on Twitter so I saw it quite a lot on that as well.
“The main thing for me is blocking it out.
“My dad keeps me level headed and down to earth. He told me not to look at it and try to ignore it.
“That’s what I did really and just focused purely on my football.”
Top of the world with assists
During the January transfer window, Ramsay had more assists than any other teenage defender in world football.
Four months on he still tops the world table of teenage defenders in the world’s top divisions with nine assists in 33 games.
Ramsay said: “To have the most assists as a teenage defender in the world is a massive achievement.
“I saw that on Twitter. It is massive for me and something I am very proud of.”
Confirmed: Aberdeen’s Calvin Ramsay world’s best teenage defender with assists https://t.co/XshSRQOvJF
— EveningExpress Sport (@ee_sport) January 21, 2022
‘I’m still young and still learning’
During the January transfer window Tottenham, Leicester City and Southampton all sent scouts to watch the teen.
Manchester United and Leicester City are understood to have given serious consideration to late January bids.
Italian top flight Bologna had a £4.8m bid for Ramsay rejected in January.
Bologna could yet revisit their interest in the summer.
Serie A Sassuolo sent a representative to watch Ramsay in action in the 3-1 defeat of Hibs at Pittodrie in March.
Ramsay said: “I’m still an Aberdeen player. I’m still young and still learning the game.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn defensively.
“I can still improve, every player can improve really.
“It’s just about staying at Aberdeen and seeing what happens at the end of the season.
“That’s all I can do.”
Advice from former boss Glass
In the midst of the speculation storm at the turn of the year Ramsay sought advice from then Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass.
Glass had experienced a similar situation when a young player at Aberdeen in the nineties.
Newcastle United bought Glass from the Dons and took him to the English top flight in 1998.
Glass’ advice was to retain focus and work on improving every week.
Do that and the sky’s the limit.
Ramsay said: “The previous manager Stephen Glass, in January, spoke to me a couple of times.
“He told me not to get caught up in it all.
“Just keep focused. He said I’m a good player and I have to keep proving myself at Aberdeen week in week out.
“If I can do that then I can go wherever I wanted potentially.
“There were a couple of English teams interested in me in January so he knew what the process was like.
“He was just trying to keep me level headed and not get carried away with myself or caught up in it all.
🚀 Calvin Ramsay 👏🏽
⚽ A first ever Aberdeen goal for our @AberdeenFCYouth Academy graduate.#StandFree | @calvinramsay03 pic.twitter.com/NwkhzPBjpw
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) April 3, 2022
“He said to just keep playing well for Aberdeen and then the rest of the things will take care of themselves.
“If it does happen in January or a year down the line, whenever it happens.
“Just keep level headed, keep playing well and it will all come together.”
Season exceeded expectations
Ramsay has come a long way in a short period since making his first start in a Scottish Cup tie against Dumbarton last April.
Just 13 months on he is the hottest prospect in Scottish football.
Securing the SFWA’s DoubleTree by Hilton SPFL Young Player of the Year award was the latest landmark.
Ramsay topped a five man short-list for the honour comprising Josh Doig (Hibs), Ross Graham (Dundee United), Nathan Patterson (Rangers/Everton) and Stephen Welsh (Celtic).
He said: “When I first came into the first team at Aberdeen, my main aim was just to try and play as many games as I could.
“I just wanted to keep myself in the team and put in strong performances really.
“There are some great players who have won this award.
“To win it is excellent.”
