Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin insists his summer signings have clicked so quickly because the club’s set-up allows them to focus purely on football.
Goodwin has overseen a major squad overhaul at Pittodrie with 11 new signings secured in a hectic transfer window.
Ten of those new additions arrived from outwith Scotland.
The only only summer signing secured from within Scotland is on-loan Celtic defender Liam Scales.
Three players were signed from overseas with Ylber Ramadani and Bojan Miovksi both secured from Hungarian club MTK Budapest.
Striker Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes was signed from Portuguese giants Benfica.
The other seven new additions arrived from England, either on loan or permanent deals.
With Aberdeen third in the Premiership, Goodwin is delighted with how quickly his rebuilt side has gelled.
He reckons a major factor is the club taking care of everything involved with moving to a new city for the signings.
That allows players to focus entirely on making a quick impact for the Reds.
Goodwin said: “Trying to integrate 11 new faces into the group, that can sometimes take a bit of time to bed in.
“However the players have gelled quickly.
“The new signings are not all Scottish boys either and neither are they used to the Premiership.
“Some have come from different countries with different languages and different cultures.
“However I must give full credit to my backroom staff.
“Also to the other staff outwith the football department for enabling those players to settle into Aberdeen as quickly as they have.
“That’s something I have really noticed in my time at the club.
“The football operations team deserve an enormous amount of credit.
“The resources available in terms of personnel here to make sure every little thing is taken care of so that these players can just come here and focus on football has been great.”
Busiest window of Goodwin’s career
Goodwin admits the summer transfer window rebuild was the most intense he has experienced in his career, in terms of both ins and outs.
Aberdeen splashed out in excess of £1.5 million in transfer fees to rebuild a squad that crashed to a 10th placed finish last season.
The £535,000 paid for striker Bojan Miovski was the most significant outlay.
However the North Macedonian international is already repaying that investment with six goals in eight games.
Cape Verde international Duk has also netted three goals, including a stunning scissors kick in the 1-1 draw with Ross County.
The attack have scored 29 goals in 11 games.
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Duk opens the scoring yesterday in Dingwall.#StandFree | #cinchPrem pic.twitter.com/CEPD6EQIe6
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) September 4, 2022
Defensively the new-look Dons have secured six clean sheets in 11 games.
Last season Aberdeen had just seven shut-outs in 47 matches.
Goodwin said: “We have had such a huge turnover of players.
“It is something I was speaking with last week with the group, about the huge turnover.
“I had never experienced 15 players leaving a club in the summer as a player or as a manager.
“Or so many new faces coming in.”
Signings focus entirely on football
Aberdeen’s structure ensures the stresses of moving to a new city, such as house hunting, are eradicated.
That allows the players to focus on building an understanding and chemistry through work at the Cormack Park training facility.
It is paying off in games.
Goodwin said: “It takes time when you are trying to bed in 11 new players coming from different parts of the world.
“Players who are used to doing things differently from what I am asking of them.
“It is a lot of information to get through but it only comes from repetition on the training pitch.
“We work hard and spend a lot of time in terms of the shape and movement of the team.
“The players are getting an understanding now of one another.”
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