Many Aberdeen fans may be concerned about the growing list of clubs tracking goal hero Duk.
They shouldn’t as there are two fundamentals that shine amidst the list of clubs monitoring Duk and the striker also saying Benfica would get up to 50% of any transfer fee.
Firstly, Duk has repeatedly stated he loves playing for Aberdeen and wants to stay at the club beyond the summer.
Secondly, Aberdeen are in no rush to sell the 23-year-old and view Duk as key to the bid for success next season.
Duk is also contracted to the Dons until summer 2025 so the Reds are very much in the driving seat.
English Premier League side Everton are the latest club to place the Cape Verde international on their radar.
Everton sent a scout to Dingwall to watch Duk score in the 1-0 win at Ross County to take his season’s tally to 18 in all competitions.
Championship leaders Burnley, who have already earned promotion to the English top flight, are also tracking Duk.
Add Championship clubs Blackburn Rover and Hull City as Italian Serie A clubs Bologna and Spezia Calcio to the list of admirers.
Yet a happy player who has constantly underlined his commitment to the Dons and a Pittodrie board that want him to stay is not the combination for a summer transfer exit.
Obviously every player has a price.
But the cut Benfica would get from any fee would mean the Reds would surely only be tempted by an enormous bid.
I’m talking the first eight figure bid ever for the Dons – of at least £10 million to £15m.
The structure of the sell-on clause means there can be no fee of the level of the £3m Bologna paid for Lewis Ferguson last summer.
It has to be eight figures to make it worthwhile to Aberdeen to lose their leading scorer.
Another key factor is that Aberdeen are in a strong position to finish third in the Premiership this season.
That could bring a multi-million Euro prize payment and group stage action until mid December – should Celtic or Rangers win the Scottish Cup.
Should either of the Glasgow two lift the cup the club finishing third would go into the Europa League group stage play-offs.
That is just one two-legged tie away from the lucrative group stages and potential glamour ties.
The team that finishes fifth in each of Europe’s big five leagues qualify automatically for the Europa League group stages.
As things stand those teams are Tottenham (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Real Betis (Spain), SC Freiburg (Germany) and Lille (France).
Should Aberdeen finish third they would be one round away from potentially landing one of those clubs in the Europa League groups.
Even if they lose the play-off the Reds would drop straight into the Europa Conference League group stage which guarantees Euro action until December 14.
The lure of playing in Europe until Christmas would surely be another incentive for Duk to, as he says he aims to, remain at Pittodrie for next season.
Continental action, potentially against a Euro big gun, would give Duk an even bigger platform to shine on.
If he hits the goal trail in Europe more, bigger clubs, from across England and Europe will take notice of the striker.
That will only further increase Duk’s profile and transfer value.
Aberdeen’s philosophy is to buy exciting talent, develop them, have them star for a season or two in the first team, then sell on at a substantial profit.
Duuuuuuuuukkkkkkkkk.
⚽ A 17th goal of the season for Duk.#StandFree | #cinchPrem pic.twitter.com/haD6p8va9n
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) April 15, 2023
Duk will inevitably be sold by Aberdeen.
However the noise coming from Duk, his advisor and the club suggest it will unlikely be this summer.
With another two years left on his contract it is more likely Duk will exit in summer 2024 – ideally when he is worth even more after another prolific season.
So Aberdeen fans don’t panic. You could enjoy Duk’s exciting talent for another year.
Referees need to show more courage
I fear for the future of football if Graeme Shinnie winning the ball in a 50-50 challenge constitutes a red card.
Shinnie clearly won the ball in the tackle with Ross County’s Jack Baldwin in the 1-0 win in Dingwall.
The Dons captain’s momentum then took him into Baldwin.
However Baldwin’s challenge also took the Ross County defender into Shinnie.
It was a robust 50-50 that both players were right to go into. And they did, fairly.
Referee Euan Anderson was only a few yards away from the tackle and had a clear view of what happened in real time.
He didn’t sanction Shinnie for the tackle.
It was only when VAR intervened that he eventually showed a red.
When Anderson made the rectangle sign with his hands to indicate he would go to the monitor there seemed an inevitability a red would be shown.
Very rarely does a referee stick with the original decision when VAR becomes involved.
Referees need to be braver and stand by the courage of their convictions if a ‘clear and obvious error’ has not been made.
There was no clear and obvious error in the initial decision on Shinnie’s challenge.
🔴RED CARD!
Graeme Shinnie is sent off for Aberdeen after a VAR check. Correct call?🔽 pic.twitter.com/9A1DphuLGG
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 14, 2023
If it was not a red card in real time don’t be swayed by freeze frames and slow motion replays.
VAR was used three times in Dingwall – and was wrong twice.
It also led to Bojan Miovski’s goal being chalked off for offside against Duk.
However Duk was in line with the last defender so the goal, which would have put the Dons 2-0 ahead, should have stood.
The camera angle available to make that offside decision on such a tight margin was simply not good enough.
Dons can deliver a magnificent seven
Aberdeen are more than capable of delivering a seventh straight win by overcoming Rangers at Pittodrie on Sunday.
The Ibrox club are leaking goals with seven conceded in their previous four Premiership games.
In contrast the Reds are rock solid at the back with five clean sheets in six matches.
Aberdeen are also dangerous in attack. It is a combination that can beat Rangers.
Furthermore there is a steeliness about the Reds under Barry Robson which means if they are in a winning position they won’t blow it.
Unlike three months ago. Throwing away a 2-1 lead against Rangers to lose 3-2 in December was the start of the slide under former boss Jim Goodwin.
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