Boss Stephen Glass is confident summer signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas will be much more than a target man for Aberdeen.
The 30-year-old is already off off the mark for the Reds having netted on his debut in the 1-1 friendly draw with Inverness Caley Thistle.
A powerful presence up front Emmanuel-Thomas has the strength to batter defences.
However Glass reckons the former Livingston attacker has the technique and imagination to unlock rearguards.
And he insists Aberdeen offer the ideal platform for Emmanuel-Thomas, aka JET, to shine.
He said: “Jay can probably get wrongly tagged as a big target man.
“He is much more than a target man and I think he will show that in an Aberdeen jersey.
“Jay has great ability, his imagination is brilliant, he can finish and he has great technique.
“He has a great number of attributes and it is up to us to put him in the right positions to use them.”
Former Arsenal youngster Emmanuel-Thomas is set to make his competitive debut in the Uefa Europa Conference League clash with BK Hacken on Thursday July 22.
Glass also signed United States international striker Christian Ramirez to bolster the attack for the new campaign.
Both Emmanuel-Thomas and Ramirez signed two year contracts with the Reds.
Ramirez may be a relative unknown quantity to Aberdeen fans having played his entire career across the Atlantic.
However he is well known to Glass who tried to sign him last year from Houston Dynamo whilst in interim charge of Atlanta United.
Houston Dynamo knocked back that bid but he rekindled his interest this summer and managed to finally land the twice capped striker.
Emmanuel-Thomas is well known to Aberdeen supporters, and Glass, as the striker netted three times in two games against the Dons last season.
He scored a brace in a Scottish Cup penalty-defeat to the Dons on April 17 then two weeks later netted a superb volley in a 2-1 loss.
Within days of firing a double past Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, which the Dons won on penalties, boss Glass made an approach for the striker.
Glass said: “Jay’s quality is undoubted for me.
“I saw that first hand last year stood at the side of the pitch when he was sticking it into our net.
“That’s one thing that won’t happen this year – he will not be doing that.
“People we spoke to when we were doing more of our homework on him talked about his quality with his feet.
“That he is a very good player.”
Dons look for answer to fans application
Meanwhile Aberdeen hope to receive clarification from the local authority within the next 24 hours on their application to have 8,200 supporters at the BK Hacken tie and the Premiership opener with Dundee United on August 1.
The Dons worked tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare the application and are confident of safely accommodating 8,200 fans.
They were waiting for confirmation from the Scottish Government on Tuesday that the route map to easing Covid-19 restrictions even further would continue.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed Scotland is to move to level zero with Covid restrictions lifted as planned on Monday 19 July, just three days before the Euro opener with BK Hacken.
That opened the way for the the Red Army to return to Pittodrie for the European clash next Thursday.
From Monday, seated outdoor stadiums can host 2,000 fans, and standing venues can accommodate 1,000.
However applications can be made on a case-by-case basis to increase that crowd number was was done for the Euro 2020 ties held at Hampden with 10,000 fans attending games..
Aberdeen have been in dialogue with the authorities and the club insist their application was diligent and thorough to put forward a case Pittodrie would be a safe environment for 8,200 fans in the first two home games of the campaign.
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