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McGinn departure will be felt most keenly but there should be hope

Niall McGinn could be in line for a return to Pittodrie
Niall McGinn could be in line for a return to Pittodrie

In Scotland, it could be as Celtic look primed for a prolonged spell of domination and the Dons will be hard pushed to maintain the standards set this season.

I can understand what Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha was getting at when he made the claim Aberdeen are coming to an end of a cycle. The Gers manager was trying to make a point, albeit clumsily, when he said there is a changing of the guard coming at Pittodrie.

The loss of Niall McGinn, Ryan Jack, Ash Taylor and Peter Pawlett represents the first time in his tenure Derek McInnes is losing players he wants to keep and it is going to be a huge summer for the Aberdeen manager.

Add in Ryan Christie, who was a fine addition from Celtic in the second half of the campaign, and that’s five quality players gone from the squad.

Greg Tansey is coming in, but he is not a straight replacement for any of the players who are leaving the club and in McGinn the Dons are losing the services of perhaps their most valuable and under-appreciated player.

His goals and assists have been outstanding and given the budget the Dons will struggle to find a like for like replacement.

Adam Rooney has broken the 20-goal barrier for three seasons in a row, but needs help if he is to maintain that run come July. McGinn has been a provider of many while no other forward has come close to sharing the burden Rooney carries every year.

Somebody help him out please. There will be more transfer activity but toppling Celtic remains a tall order and an impressive summer of recruitment is needed at Pittodrie as the Hoops are only going to get better.

The Champions League income has been banked and Moussa Dembele is attracting interest from clubs in Europe who will pay big money.

That’s a substantial pot available to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers whose focus in the first half of next season will be on the Champions League. I can only see them being stronger. That doesn’t mean Aberdeen cannot have another strong season themselves and, like Celtic, progressing in Europe will be the focus for McInnes.

The Dons have had three goes at the Europa League and will be back training next month in preparation for a fourth tilt at making the group stages.

If Aberdeen did make it to the group stages it would be massive, not only in terms of an achievement but also the profile of the club not to mention the balance sheet.

High-profile games and the chance to test themselves against quality clubs will come their way. That can only help Aberdeen improve.

The Scottish Cup final is barely finished and predicting what is to come is tough, but I expect the Dons will still be ahead of Rangers in the Premiership next season as the Light Blues are a mess.

Closing the gap on Celtic is possible, but beating them to silverware will be as tall an order as it was this.

That said, if any team is going to challenge Brendan Rodgers’ men next season it will be the team from the Granite City.