Midfielder Leighton Clarkson believes it is vital Aberdeen retain Celtic target Bojan Miovski beyond the January transfer window.
Celtic are reportedly weighing up a January bid for the 24-year-old and Parkhead boss Brendan Rodgers has had Miovski watched regularly this season.
Miovski has scored 14 times in all competitions this season and the Dons are braced for interest in the striker during the winter window.
North Macedonian international Miovski is contracted to the Dons until summer 2026.
Aberdeen boss Barry Robson recently confirmed the Dons aim to open talks with Miovski in an attempt to tie the star striker to an even longer deal.
Miovski is set to lead the line against Motherwell at Pittodrie on Wednesday.
Clarkson, 22, said: “It is very important we keep him.
“Bojan has pulled us out of a lot of games this year and he is a top quality striker.
“I would love him to stay and I know the rest of the team and the fans do as well.
“He is a top striker.”
‘Good connection’ with Miovski
Miovski has been a scoring sensation since Aberdeen signed him from Hungarian club MTK Budapest for £535,000 in June 2022.
The January transfer window opens on Monday, January 1 and clubs across Europe have already shown interest in Miovski.
Italian outfits Lazio and Bologna previously placed the striker on their radar.
French club Stade de Reims were also tracking Miovski as were England Championship side Southampton.
Miovski netted 18 goals in all competitions last season and has maintained that form with 14 this term.
Former Liverpool midfielder Clarkson believes he has forged a strong understanding with Miovski and is keen for that to continue.
Clarkson reckons the best is yet to come from the prolific striker and hopes to see that further improvement come at Pittodrie.
He said: “In terms of the numbers Bojan has 14 goals so far, which is very good and we have not been playing at our best as well.
“He scores lots of goals and I have a good connection on the pitch in terms of his movement.
“I think his movement is excellent.
“So he has done really well and we just want him to keep improving.”
Frustration at late Dundee call-off
Aberdeen will return to action on Wednesday after the frustration of the late postponement of their Premiership clash at Dundee.
Referee David Munro called off the game 52 minutes before the 3pm scheduled kick-off time on Saturday.
The ref pulled the plug on the match due to player safety concerns as surface water had accumulated in the away end penalty box.
Aberdeen wanted the game to go ahead and Dundee were adamant the pitch was playable.
The majority of the 3,500 strong travelling Aberdeen support were already in Dundee when confirmation of the postponement was made.
Clarkson is “gutted” the opportunity to build momentum in the Premiership was snatched away from the Reds.
Aberdeen travelled to Dundee in search of a third straight league victory and a “statement” win to reward the Red Army for their continued backing.
Now Clarkson is focused on overcoming Motherwell.
He said: “The fans spend good money to follow us and there was 3,000 of them again.
“We wanted to come down to Dundee and win, to put a bit of a statement out there and give back to the fans.
“But it was not meant to be.
“We had looked at the pitch and we thought we could have played on it but the officials called it off.
“You could see from the outside around it that it was waterlogged.
“On the pitch it was potentially playable but we never went in the boxes and I think that’s where the issue was.
“The bounce of the ball in the two boxes, it was just dropping dead.
“We are gutted but we have to move on.”
‘Both teams wanted to play the game’
Aberdeen are in the midst of a gruelling schedule that will pack in 12 games across 36 days by the time the Premiership goes into a winter shutdown on January 2.
In a hectic run of games the Dons have recently had to balance the Premiership, a Viaplay Cup final and Europa Conference League group action.
However Clarkson was disappointed with the unexpected break from the schedule.
He said: “I would rather have played it, to be honest.
“We have had a few decent results although obviously we lost the cup final.
“But we felt that after Livingston (2-1 win) we could go on a bit of a run so it is just disappointing that we couldn’t play.
“Both teams wanted to play the game but it is down to the officials and there is nothing we can do about that.
“We wanted to go down to Dundee and win to build a bit of momentum.”
Strong chance @DundeeFC v @AberdeenFC could be called off. Heavy rain. Trying to brush water off surface but looks like thankless tast.#aberdeenfc pic.twitter.com/pvGruVBzVA
— Sean Wallace (@EESeanWallace) December 23, 2023
Focus on rising up Premiership table
Aberdeen are languishing eighth in the Premiership table with a return of 19 points from 16 fixtures.
Clarkson reckons a run of “three or four wins” will propel the Dons up into the fight to finish third.
And he is determined to the Premiership resurrection will continue against Motherwell.
He said: “It is not where we want to be but in this league.
“However if you get three, four wins on the bounce it can shoot you right up there.
“We have a home game against Motherwell and it is one we are looking to get all three points from.”
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