Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass wants all his summer signings secured for pre-season

Boss Stephen Glass aims to have all his summer signings secured for pre-season to ensure Aberdeen can hit the new campaign with a bang.

Glass will begin pre-season training with the Dons in the third week of June in preparation for Europe.

The Dons enter the Uefa Conference League at the second qualifying round stage on Thursday July 22.

Glass wants his summer rebuild completed for the start of pre-season so that his new-look squad have more than a month to work together before the Euro tie.

He has already landed four signings in Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Declan Gallagher, Scott Brown and Gary Woods, who will all join on two-year deals.

Former Aberdeen defender Clark Robertson, 27, has been offered a deal and will be a free agent as his contract has expired at Rotherham.

The Dons have made an approach to Atlanta about a loan deal for right-back Jack Gurr, 25, and the MLS side are considering the request.

Glass said: “It is up to us to get the business done as soon as we can.

“It would be ideal to have everything done by pre-season.”

Aberdeen will report back for pre-season training knowing exactly what lies ahead in Europe as the draw for the Conference League second qualifying round is on June 16.

Aberdeen are now seeking a new head of recruitment following the departure of Russ Richardson, who was previously charged with identifying signing targets.

Despite the vacancy, also on Glass’ radar is St Mirren attacking midfielder Jamie McGrath, who netted 17 goals in the recently finished season.

However, McGrath has a year remaining on his contract with St Mirren and it would take a substantial six-figure sum to convince the Buddies to sell the midfielder if the Dons were to make any interest concrete.

Glass is reportedly keen on landing Hibs’ midfielder Jackson Irvine, who is set to go out of contract following the Easter Road’s Scottish Cup final clash with St Johnstone on Saturday.

Hibs are hopeful they can retain Australian international Irvine, 28, who arrived at Easter Road in January on a short-term deal having left Hull City.

Glass accepts there could be snags in his bid to get all his transfer business completed  early.

He said: “I would like to (get the signings in for pre-season), but the reality is it might not happen.

“Other clubs I am sure don’t want to help us do that.”

Eight players have already left Pittodrie since the 4-0 loss to Premiership champions Rangers at Ibrox on the final game of the season.

A defensive clear-out saw the exit of centre-backs Ash Taylor and Tommie Hoban alongside full-backs Greg Leigh and Shay Logan.

All four were out of contract at the end of the season and were not offered new deals.

Loan strikers Florian Kamberi (St Gallen), Callum Hendry (St Johnstone) and Fraser Hornby (Stade de Reims) have all returned to their parent clubs.

Aberdeen had tabled an offer to striker Bruce Anderson, whose Pittodrie deal expires this summer.

However, Anderson, who was on loan at relegated Hamilton, has agreed a pre-contract with Livingston and will join them on a three-year deal.

Aberdeen are set to give a short-term deal to Scotland international centre-back Mikey Devlin, who also has a contract expiring.

Devlin has been injured for most of the season and Glass will give him the breathing space of a deal until January to prove his fitness.

Northern Ireland international Niall McGinn is also out of contract at Pittodrie, but is set to be offered a one year deal.

Glass said: “There’s going to be comings and goings and we’re working on some things to make sure we’re very productive next season.”

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