Signed for just £100,000 Ylber Ramadani is Aberdeen’s bargain version of multi-million stars Joshua Kimmich, Fabinho and Casemiro – a metronomic force at the heart of his team.
It is all about levels.
Defensive midfielders Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Fabinho (Liverpool) and Casemiro (Manchester United) all make their teams tick at the highest level.
Clearly Albanian international Ramadani is not at the level of Kimmich, Fabinho and Casemiro.
The 26-year-old former MTK Budapest midfielder wouldn’t be at Pittodrie if he was.
However, summer signing Ramadani is doing a similar job at Scottish Premiership level and is making as big an impact for his team as those world class stars do for theirs.
Ramadani is both the midfield enforcer and the beating heart of Jim Goodwin’s rebuilt Aberdeen team, who dictates the pace of play.
The destroyer of opponents’ attacks, the defensive midfielder offers an extra line of protection for the back four with tackles and interceptions.
He can also instigate attacks with swift, incisive passes.
The 15 time capped international is also capable of picking out a long-range, defence-splitting pass.
That was shown by a sublime 40-yard pass that split open the Ross County rear-guard to release Leighton Clarkson in the box in the 1-1 draw.
An anchor in midfield, Ramadani is becoming an unsung hero for his vital work.
A lot of his play may sometimes go unnoticed because it is rarely flashy or eye-catching.
However, the midfielder is absolutely fundamental to making Aberdeen tick.
The Dons would be a very different team without Ramadani.
The only aspect of his play we have yet to see is the long-range goals.
Ramadani forged a reputation for scoring screamers from outside the box prior to moving to Pittodrie.
He has yet to produce that long-range threat, but hopefully he will deliver those.
There is beauty in the purity of Ramadani’s play. He is a joy to watch and is always in the right place at the right time.
That is not luck.
It comes through an intense knowledge of the game and by studying the movement of the ball and opponents.
It is both instinctive and honed.
Aberdeen secured Ramadani and striker Bojan Miovski from MTK Budapest during the summer transfer window.
North Macedonian international Miovski cost £535,000 and is already beginning to repay that outlay with six goals in eight games.
Miovski is getting all the limelight, as goal-scoring strikers inevitably do.
However, Ramadani has made just as positive an impact as his former MTK Budapest team-mate.
What is clear is that Aberdeen have landed bargains with the signings of both.
MTK were relegated at the end of last season and it prompted a fire-sale of their top talent.
Aberdeen benefitted.
There is a calmness to Ramadani’s play which transmits throughout the team.
His presence is key to Jim Goodwin’s philosophy of building up from the back, because he is accurate with passes and ice cool on the ball.
Ramadani has the third most successful pass count in the Scottish Premiership in the six games to date with 319.
Only Rangers’ John Lundstram on 393 and Celtic’s Scotland international Callum McGregor on 379 have posted more.
His passing accuracy is 89.86%, essentially meaning nine in 10 of his passes in the top flight find a team-mate.
His chops as a midfield enforcer are clear with 28 duels won, 15 interceptions and seven successful tackles.
The only slightly negative stat is the Dons midfielder has lost possession more than he has won it, 49 to 45.
Ramadani brings an aggression and edge to Aberdeen’s midfield.
At international level, he has faced top nations such as France, England and Spain.
Aberdeen are benefitting from that experience.
The indications are that he will get even better at Pittodrie.
Then the only problem for Aberdeen will be retaining the midfielder, contracted to summer 2025 – as his performances will put him on the radar of other clubs.
Don’t talk about financial gulfs
The irony of Rangers’ boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s comments about struggling to cope with a financial gulf will not have been lost on Aberdeen supporters.
Nor the fans of the other nine Scottish Premiership clubs outside of Rangers and Premiership champions Celtic.
Nor the other 30 clubs in the lower divisions of the SPFL just struggling to survive in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
The Rangers gaffer claimed his side “cannot compete” financially with Champions League teams after they were thrashed 4-0 by Ajax in Amsterdam.
Welcome to the world of every other Scottish club outside Rangers and Celtic.
It has been 37 long years since a club outside of Rangers and Celtic last won the title.
That was Aberdeen under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1985.
I’m not ruling out that a club will break that run, but it doesn’t appear to be on the horizon any time soon.
Rangers and Celtic could both pocket up to a staggering £40 million from qualifying for the Champions League group stages.
That will only increase the financial chasm on the other Premiership clubs.
Rangers’ struggles with Ajax are just a mirror image of what the other 40 SPFL clubs continually face season after season.
Do those SPFL clubs moan about the gulf? No. They get on with it and try to cope with the financial chasm as best they can.
Maybe van Bronckhorst should take note.
McCrorie should be in Scots’ squad
Scotland manager Steve Clarke has named his squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League games and Ross McCrorie is not in it.
Aberdeen midfielder McCrorie deserves a call-up into the squad to face Ukraine and Republic of Ireland as his form this season has been impressive.
If the 24-year-old continues his level of performances, surely Clarke will recognise that in future squads.
Former Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson also dropped out of the Scotland squad.
Ferguson was in Clarke’s previous squads, but has made just one substitute appearance for Bologna since a £3 million summer transfer.
That appearance was in a 2-0 away loss at AC Milan.
Ferguson suffered an early blow when his Serie A debut was delayed due to an unexpected two-game suspension.
He picked up a yellow card in the penultimate game of last season with Aberdeen that pushed him through the disciplinary threshold in Scotland.
That two-game league ban in Scotland was then passed on to Italy.
If Ferguson can force his way into the Bologna team, surely a Scotland return will be imminent.
Conversation