Aberdeen have work to do to rebuild paper-thin squad for European adventure

The out with the old portion of Aberdeen’s transfer business has been routine so far – but the in with the new is going to dominate the newsfeed from Pittodrie this summer.

It has been no secret that a busy summer lies ahead for Aberdeen manager Barry Robson but the extent of the rebuild about to take place is substantial.

In total 15 players have departed the club – 16 if you include Ross McCrorie’s move to Bristol City last week.

There were little surprises among the names of those who will be moving on to pastures new.

Marley Watkins, Connor McLennan, Dean Campbell, Matty Kennedy and youngsters Mason Hancock, Timi Fatona and Blessing Oluyemi have been peripheral or non-existent figures in the first-team squad in the last 12 months.

But when you add in the eight loan players Liam Scales, Mattie Pollock, Graeme Shinnie, Leighton Clarkson, Hayden Coulson, Jay Gorter, Dilan Markanday and Patrik Myslovic, it does leave Robson with a painfully slender squad.

With European football – and all the stresses it will put on the squad domestically, clearly new faces are badly needed.

Dons have irons in the fire at home and abroad

The Dons are in talks to bring Croatian midfielder Tonio Teklic and Slovenian striker Ester Sokler to the club with a deal for Sokler close to fruition.

Dutch defender Jay Idzes is also on Aberdeen’s wanted list.

Closer to home Robson want to bring Shinnie and Clarkson back to the club on a permanent basis while the club has also reportedly expressed an interest in taking another Liverpool player in Harvey Blair to the club on loan.

But do not be surprised to see a tartan twinge to the long list of new recruits by the time the window closes at the end of August.

Nicky Devlin is the first new arrival at Pittodrie and the man who captained Livingston replaces more than McCrorie as the right back at the club.

He also helps the Dons maintain their quota of Scottish players in the squad.

More Scots needed to fulfil Uefa quota

Participation in European football comes with a caveat and Uefa’s criteria is quite clear.

Every club which participates in a Uefa competition must have eight locally-trained or ‘homegrown’ players in their 25-man squad.

In other words the Dons must name eight players who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by the club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21.

However, no club is permitted to have more than four association-trained players among their eight locally trained players.

The important point to consider here is this: if a club cannot meet the criteria they must reduce their squad accordingly.

In other words, if you only have seven eligible players then you can only name a 24-man squad for European competition.

Club-trained players at Pittodrie are Jack MacKenzie, Connor Barron, Ryan Duncan and Alfie Bavidge.

Devlin is the only association-trained players eligible for Robson’s squad as it stands.

Shinnie return is complicated

Shinnie would help the quota if he returned but the complex situation at his parent club Wigan Athletic has made that move problematic.

The man named captain by Robson following his return to the club on loan in January has a three-year contract offer to return to Pittodrie.

But Wigan’s financial woes have resulted in them being hit with a transfer embargo as well as an eight-point deduction before a ball has been kicked in League One next season.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has lodged a winding-up petition against the Latics over unpaid tax bills and it also understood money is outstanding from last month’s salary payments.

Officials at Wigan claim it is in the process of being sold but the clock is ticking in every sense for the beleaguered club.

With Shinnie reportedly one of only 15 first-team players on the books he finds himself in the middle of a real mess at his parent club.

Dons European squad is 16 and counting

The only certainty at this point is there are 16 players currently on Aberdeen’s books for next season who can expect to be named in the squad for Europe as it stands.

They are goalkeepers Kelle Roos and Joe Lewis, new arrival Devlin and fellow defenders Jonny Hayes, MacKenzie, Jayden Richardson and Angus MacDonald, midfielders Barron, Shayden Morris, Ylber Ramadani, Vicente Besuijen and Callum Roberts, and strikers Bojan Miovski, Duk, Bavidge and Duncan.

Shinnie and Clarkson would be added to the list if they returned. Should moves for Idzes, Teklic, Sokler and Blair also come to fruition that takes the number up to 22.

But it still leaves Aberdeen shy of the target of 25 they need for Europe.

There’s work to be done.

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