Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

REVEALED: The next rising teen star Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin aims to sign on an extended contract

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin aims to secure the club's latest rising star on an extended contract.
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin aims to secure the club's latest rising star on an extended contract.

Highly rated centre-back Jack Milne is the latest Aberdeen teen star boss Jim Goodwin aims to secure on an extended contract.

Aberdeen are currently locked in talks with midfielder Connor Barron, 19, in a bid to secure the Scotland U21 cap on a long term deal.

Now boss Goodwin has confirmed he aims to tie up centre-back Milne’s long term future to the Dons.

Goodwin is ‘very excited about’ 19-year-old rising star Milne.

And he confirmed the teen could be handed a competitive first team debut in the upcoming Premier Sports Cup group games.

Milne impressed with the Dons during the week long warm weather training camp in Alicante, Spain.

He is in contention to feature in the pre-season friendly away to Highland League Brechin City on Wednesday.

Goodwin insists Milne has all the attributes of a ‘modern centre-back’ in terms of pace, height, physicality and skill.

The Dons boss now aims to open up a path to get the Youth Academy graduate into the first team.

Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin has been impressed by Jack Milne and aims to secure the teen on a new long term contract.

He said: “Jack is one that we would like to extend.

“He is a player that I really, really like.

“Jack still has a lot to learn in terms of that position but he is one I’m very excited about.

“He has all the attributes you would want from a modern day centre-back in terms of height and physical profile.

“He is six foot three, maybe six foot four.

“Jack also has pace and is comfortable on the ball.

“He has a lot of experienced players ahead of him at the moment.

“We now just have to find a way to open the pathway up to get him into the team.”

Jack Milne scores whilst on loan at Highland League Brechin City.

Keen to extend Ryan Duncan’s deal

Goodwin is also keen to extend the contract of teenage midfielder Ryan Duncan.

The 18-year-old spent a successful season on loan with League One Peterhead last season.

Duncan was also in Spain at the Dons’ training camp.

The midfielder has already made his first team debut having featured as a substitute in a 4-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox in November, 2020.

Ryan Duncan, who is on loan at Peterhead from Aberdeen
Aberdeen midfielder Ryan Duncan spent last season on loan at Peterhead.

Milne has experienced centre-backs ahead of him at Pittodrie, at the moment.

Boss Goodwin signed two centre-backs during an extensive and ongoing summer transfer window squad rebuild.

Anthony Stewart arrived on a two year contract following the expiration of his deal with Wycombe Wanderers.

Vicente Besuijen with new Aberdeen signings Jayden Richardson and Anthony Stewart at the Spanish training camp. (Photo: Ross Johnston/Newsline Media)

Left-sided centre-back Liam Scales was also secured on a season long loan from Premiership champions Celtic.

Goodwin will  bid to secure Scales on a permanent contract during the January window if, as he expects, the defender impresses.

Two Scotland international centre-backs also exited as part of Goodwin’s rebuild.

Long serving Andy Considine left after 18 seasons in the Dons first team.

A new contract was taken off the table after talks broke down.

Considine penned a two year contract with Premiership rivals St Johnstone.

Declan Gallagher had the final year of his Aberdeen contract terminated last month and subsequently signed with St Mirren.

Aberdeen will bid to sign Liam Scales on a permanent deal in January.

Switch from midfield to centre-back

Highly rated teen Milne initially joined the Dons at 11-years old and attended the SFA Performance School at Hazlehead Academy.

He joined Aberdeen as a full-time professional in summer 2020 – as a midfielder.

Aberdonian Milne played for a season with the U18’s before being loaned out to Brechin City for the first half of the 2021/22 campaign.

Originally a central midfielder, then a holding midfielder, Milne was converted into a centre-back and has gone from strength to strength.

Goodwin said: “The Academy guys deserve a lot of credit because they turned him from a central midfielder into a centre-half.

“Jack got a 45 minute run out against Buckie Thistle (2-1 friendly win).

“We might get him some more game time in the friendlies to come and also in the League Cup.”

Talks ongoing with Connor Barron

Goodwin is keen to tie down the club’s hottest young prospects on longer deals.

Talks are ongoing with with 19-year-old midfielder Barron who has become a regular first team starter under Goodwin.

Barron’s current Dons deal expires in summer 2024 and Goodwin recently said he expects contract talks to progress smoothly.

Teenage midfielder Connor Barron leads the way during a training session.

Aberdeen recently sold teen right-back Calvin Ramsay to Premier League giants Liverpool for a club record transfer fee.

Right-back Ramsay, 18, signed a five year contract with the Anfield club.

Aberdeen secured an initial £4.5 million payment.

There is also the possibility of a further £3.5m in performance related add-ons should the teen reach certain performance related milestones.

In January 2021 the Dons tied Ramsay to a new contract until summer 2024, thus substantially ramping up his value.

Connor McLennan and Connor Barron training at Cormack Park during pre-season.

Importance of developing youth

Goodwin reckons the development and big money transfer of Ramsay is an example to many other clubs.

He said: “For football clubs to be sustainable now they have to be able to bring that level of quality through the Academy system.

“Otherwise it makes the whole investment pointless.

“In fairness to the board of the directors and the chairman (Dave Cormack) they have built a great facility at Cormack Park.

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin and Calvin Ramsay
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin and Calvin Ramsay.

“And Calvin Ramsay has pretty much paid for it off the back of that move a couple of weeks ago which is fantastic.

“It is a great example to all the other clubs out there of how to do things.

“We have great Academy coaches who are working tirelessly behind the scenes as you would expect.”

Clear route for youth to the first team

Manager Goodwin is determined to have a clear route into the first team for exciting young Youth Academy talent.

Left-back Jack MacKenzie has also emerged from the club’s Youth Academy system to become a first team regular.

Aberdeen’s Jack MacKenzie celebrates his late winner at Livingston.

Goodwin said: “As manager I need to make sure that road to the first team is there for them.

“When they see guys like Calvin Ramsay, Jack MacKenzie and Connor Barron making that step from the Academy it gives them a real lift.

“It also gives the parents a bit of optimism.

“That they can see a potential opportunity there for their kids to go and play for Aberdeen’s first team.”

 

Conversation