German defender Hauke Wahl could be on Dons manager Derek McInnes’ radar after he vowed to toughen up his team this summer.
McInnes watched his Reds capitulate against St Johnstone on Friday and afterwards labelled his players vulnerable. He believes the Dons lack physicality and will address those deficiencies in the summer.
One potential option for the Dons is Wahl. Reports in Germany claim the 22-year-old, who plays in Bundesliga 2 with SC Paderborn, has been targeted by McInnes.
The Dons would have to pay, however, if they do make a move for the 6ft 2in central defender as he is not a free agent in the summer.
A Dons spokesman said the club does not comment on transfer speculation.
Aberdeen missed out on the chance to close the gap on leaders Celtic with the Hoops’ 1-1 draw at home to Ross County on Sunday adding to the anguish at yet another opportunity missed for Aberdeen.
The only positive for Aberdeen was the fact third-placed Hearts missed their chance to close the gap on the Dons when they lost to Motherwell.
But McInnes is more interested in improving the physicality of his team which he believes was outmuscled by the Saints in the 3-0 defeat at McDiarmid Park on Friday.
The Dons manager’s concerns about his side’s ability to deal with direct teams such as Saints is not without foundation, with Tommy Wright’s team scoring a remarkable 12 goals against the Dons in the four meetings between the teams this season.
It is a statistic which has cost the Dons dear in the title race as much as any other result and McInnes knows it is a problem he must solve quickly.
He said: “We’ve had a concern for more than a few games now that we’re not strong enough and it is something I need to address in the summer.
“I know what I need to get in. There won’t be wholesale changes but as a club we need more strength in the team.
“When the game is technical, we can take on anyone, but in other games, like the one against St Johnstone, we need to win headers and be strong and we didn’t do that.
“We struggled to get up the pitch, struggled to deal with the directness, and we lacked physicality. We were vulnerable at set-pieces and we missed the dominance of Ash Taylor.
“There have been a few games this season where we have lacked that physicality, strength and size and we need to get more players in the building who can handle that.”
