New Aberdeen signing Kelle Roos insists he is up for the battle to be the club’s number one keeper next season.
Dutch stopper Roos has joined the Dons on a two year deal having left Derby County.
Manager Jim Goodwin signed the 30-year-old in a bid to bring competition to keeper Joe Lewis.
Goodwin recently terminated keeper Gary Woods’ contract and said he felt Lewis didn’t have enough competition last season.
Roos aims to bring that competition.
He said: “You come to Aberdeen, it’s a big club, and big clubs have good players and they have to challenge for places.
“I’m challenging, Joe is challenging, everybody on this pitch is challenging for a spot.
“I want it to bring the best out of me.”
‘It’s not up to me, it’s not up to Joe’
Roos confirmed there were clubs in England and Netherlands interested in signing him this summer.
Aberdeen won the race because the Reds were more ‘cut throat’ in their pursuit of the former Dutch youth international keeper.
Roos racked up 91 appearances for Derby County where he also had loan spells at Plymouth, Port Vale, Bristol Rovers and AFC Wimbledon.
He made 18 appearances for the Rams last season.
Roos may be battling to oust Lewis as Aberdeen’s No.1 but admits there is a camaraderie with keepers despite the fierce competition.
He said: “You spend a lot of time together.
“Keepers quite simply have to make the choice: ‘are we going to make it awkward all year round or are we going to work together and accept decisions about our position aren’t up to us?’
“It’s very simple.
“You’ve got a gaffer, you’ve got a goalkeeping coach.
“I would say most of the time, the gaffer decides who plays.
“That’s not up to me, it’s not up to Joe. It’s as simple as that.
“For me, it’s a case of working together and performing to the best of my ability every day and hopefully get picked.”
Interest from other clubs in Europe
Roos is quickly integrating into the Aberdeen squad at the Spanish training camp on the Costa Blanca.
Despite other transfer options the willingness of the Dons to sign him really made the club stand out.
Roos said: “It’s been great so far. Everything I’ve seen, obviously starting with me flying over and meeting the staff.
“They’ve been warm all around.
“There was interest early in the summer.
“I think gradually we built up a feeling towards each other, that we I guess got excited about on both sides.
“It continued to grow and that’s just how it came about.
“I had other options.
“Obviously because I’m a foreign lad as well, there was a couple of clubs abroad, in my native country, in England.
“I think what attracted me here was that this club really wanted to do it. I felt that.
“That’s something I needed in my career.
“That’s why I was excited to come here.
“They were just more cut throat with it and I would say that charmed me a little bit.
“That’s the reason I’m here.”
Shinnie sold the move to Aberdeen
Former Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie also played a role in Roos choosing to sign on at Aberdeen.
The keeper played alongside Shinnie at Derby County until January this year when midfielder Shinnie was transferred to Wigan Athletic.
Scotland international Shinnie, 30, made 193 appearances for the Dons before transferring to Derby in summer 2019.
Aberdonian Shinnie delivered a glowing recommendation on his home city club.
He said: “I gave Shinza a call. He left Derby last winter.
“Obviously he’d been here for years and he only said good things about this club before there was even any thought about me coming here.
“I had a good relationship with him and he only had good things to say about Aberdeen.
“That was the same from Max Lowe who obviously had a little spell here.
“These guys just confirmed the feeling that I had which made it easier for me.”
Tough season with troubled Derby
Roos signed on with the Dons on a free as his contract with Derby County has expired.
Troubled Derby suffered a nightmare season having suffered a 21-point deduction.
The Rams were hit with a 12-point deduction for entering administration last season.
That was followed by a nine-point penalty for breaching EFL accounting rules.
Despite a valiant effort by manager Wayne Rooney, the England and Manchester United legend. and his squad Derby were relegated to League One.
Roos said: “It was difficult. As a group and a staff we pulled together.
“Because of administration, different choices and different things had to happen.
“Financially, not everything was possible anymore.
“But I think funnily enough, everybody embraced the fact it was out of our control.
“We had to help the young boys that had to play all of a sudden because of various reasons.
“It was a very complicated situation.
“Weirdly enough, we enjoyed the challenge.
“I think you could see that as we performed very well up for most of the season with a very small and young squad.
“But at the end of the day, we fell short.”
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