Sam Cosgrove admits he doesn’t know how his career would have turned out if Aberdeen hadn’t taken a chance on him.
The striker sealed a £2million move to English Championship side Birmingham City at the weekend, just three years after the Dons had signed him for £30,000 from Carlisle United.
Cosgrove netted 47 goals in 103 appearances during his with the Reds.
Reflecting on his time at Pittodrie the 24-year-old said: “I signed for Aberdeen three years ago for thirty thousand as a nobody who had played just a handful of games and with one goal to my name.
“If it wasn’t for Aberdeen taking a long-term punt on me I don’t know where my career would have ended up, to be honest.
“I’d joined Carlisle as a free agent after being released by Wigan and felt then it was my last chance to make something of myself in football.
“Carlisle was my last ditch attempt at it but was on a short-term contract before Aberdeen saw me and took the chance.
“I came to Pittodrie looking to do what I did, honestly.
“But I could never have thought it would turn out so successfully.”
Cosgrove reached the 20-goal mark in the 2018-19 campaign and again last season.
However, the Englishman wasn’t an instant success. He was sent off on his debut against Celtic in February 2018 and failed score in his first 16 appearances.
Cosgrove has thanked Dons boss Derek McInnes and his staff for keeping faith in him and helping him improve.
He added: “It was hard initially, I didn’t get off to the best of starts with the red card against Celtic and I wasn’t prolific at the beginning.
“But a lot of credit has to go to the manager and the coaching staff for the way they worked with me and the improvements to my game they helped me make.
“I can’t speak highly enough of them, they showed belief in me and worked hard to make me a better player.
“The manager put me in the team after the split and stuck by me during the barren times.
“He believed in me and that helped bring the best out of me.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Aberdeen, once I started scoring and the fans took to me it became one of the most enjoyable few years of my life.
“The move was really good for me.”