I would love to see a strike partnership of Bojan Miovki and Ester Sokler under new Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin next season.
I’m confident that duo would cause havoc for defences in the Premiership.
Obviously that partnership hinges on Miovski still being at Pittodrie next season.
Aberdeen’s resolve to keep leading scorer Miovski is likely to be tested with clubs across Europe monitoring the 24-year-old.
Miovski has netted 24 goals in all competitions and has also scored in Europe.
His form will inevitably alert clubs, but I’ve said before that it should take at least £10million plus add-ons for any club to land Miovski.
North Macedonian international Miovski is a superb talent and I hope he is at Pittodrie for Thelin’s first season at the helm.
If he is I would love to see Thelin let Miovski and Sokler loose together.
Sokler has impressed me this season and I’m surprised his game time has been so limited.
When the Slovenian striker has been given an opportunity he has grabbed it.
Sokler made a huge impact when introduced off the bench in the Scottish Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Celtic.
He headed home the dramatic late leveller to force extra-time and was a constant thorn in the side of Celtic’s defence,
Miovski and Sokler were so dangerous together at Hampden and I would like to see that consistently next season under Thelin.
Sokler is similar to Miovski in that they both get into very good positions and can read the gameplay very well.
Striker Sokler has pace, is direct and is very good on the ball.
Miovski does a power of work in running across the front, back and the lines.
In contrast, Sokler makes more direct runs and I believe they can be a lethal partnership.
Sokler has only made five starts this season, but has featured off the bench 32 times and pitched in with three goals.
He scored in the 2-0 UEFA Conference League win over German giants Eintracht Frankfurt at Pittodrie in December.
Sokler now has a full season in Scotland under his belt, so he will have a far stronger understanding of the Premiership now.
I expect him to play a major role next season – hopefully alongside Miovski.
If Miovski does leave in the summer then Solker could fill that void.
New boss Thelin will kick-start his Pittodrie career on June 3.
He is remaining at Elfsborg until the Swedish top-flight goes into the summer break.
Thelin will conduct an overhaul of the Dons squad, and I think quite a few of the current squad could pay the price for a dismal Premiership campaign.
Aberdeen have been strong in the cups this season – but that cannot paper over what has been a woeful league campaign.
They are finishing the season in the bottom six wasteland, which is simply not good enough.
Players will ultimately pay the price as Thelin needs to build a squad that can play his style and get Aberdeen challenging at the top end of the table again.
Another priority for Thelin should be finally replacing Ylber Ramadani.
Midfielder Ramadani was transferred to Italian club Lecce in a £1.2m deal last summer.
However, his influence in the middle of the pitch was never really replaced.
I’m really excited about the new era under Thelin.
Thelin likes to play attractive, attacking football and that will hopefully be spearheaded by a Miovski-Sokler partnership.
Peter Leven will be key next season
Aberdeen interim boss Peter Leven will play a vital role next season under new manager Jimmy Thelin.
Leven will be assistant first-team coach under the Swedish manager.
When Neil Warnock quit as interim boss in March, the club turned to Leven yet again to take on the management role.
The threat of a relegation battle was very real when Leven took over from Warnock.
And he has managed to deliver what Warnock couldn’t – Premiership victories.
The Dons are now five games without defeat in the Premiership under Leven.
What is clear is Leven has the respect of the Aberdeen players.
He deserved tremendous credit for delivering results under difficult circumstances.
Aberdeen face St Johnstone at Pittodrie on Saturday and it will be tough as Saints are battling for their top-flight survival.
A victory for the Dons should kill any remaining slim chance of being dragged into the relegation play-off zone.
Leven will be key to Thelin next season as he has that connection with the squad.
He also has valuable knowledge and experience of Scottish football.
Young Dons shone at Hampden
Aberdeen U18s deserve real credit for reaching the Scottish Youth Cup final.
Unfortunately they were edged out 2-1 by Rangers in the final at Hampden.
The young Dons will be hurting, but they must pick themselves up and push for the league title.
They are still in the hunt for the league crown. If they can win that, it would be a fantastic achievement.
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