New Aberdeen signing Callum Roberts is relishing linking up with former teammate Jayden Richardson at Pittodrie.
The 25-year-old winger became Jim Goodwin’s eighth summer signings after joining the Dons from Notts County on a three-year deal.
The Dons have paid a fee of around £100,000 for Roberts, who was a youth player at Newcastle United and has previous experience of Scottish football after a loan at Kilmarnock in 2017.
Roberts, a left-footed winger who tends to play on the right flank, scored 16 goals in 36 appearances for County in the National League last season.
He teamed up with right-back Richardson at County and hopes the pair can form another fruitful partnership at the Dons.
He said: “We played on the right hand side together so I know how to play with him and he knows how to play with me.
“He’s an unbelievable player – a club the size of Aberdeen wouldn’t sign him if he wasn’t a good player.
“Whenever I get the ball I can just put it in behind and he’s going to catch it.
“I like getting on the ball, I’m never one to shy away from the ball and running at players; trying to create one v one situations, scoring goals, creating goals. I’d say those are the strengths of my game.”
Roberts had other options but said it was an easy decision to make the move to the Dons, who take on Celtic in their opening Scottish Premiership match on Sunday.
He said: “It’s amazing, It’s come around so quickly. I had a conversation with the gaffer maybe four or five days ago and now we’re here.
“My agent text and said he’d had a few questions from Aberdeen about me.
“Obviously it’s helpful Jayden’s here and Jayden’s spoken very highly of me.
“I think the gaffer spoke to him and it escalated from there
“Jayden said it’s a great club, the lads are great and the management’s great as well – so it’s exciting.
“It’s always nice to have someone around to get you settled in and show you round the place.
“I had a few options to be honest – a few in (English) League Two and a couple of sniffs from elsewhere.
“As soon as my agent picked the phone up from Aberdeen, it was like ‘this is the one I want, I don’t want anything else and this is the only move I want to do.’
“That’s what the gaffer said: He wants us to play football freely and express myself on the pitch – so hopefully I can do that.”
Roberts made 11 appearances while on loan at Kilmarnock in 2017 and felt his time in Scotland was beneficial for his development.
He said: “It was good. It was my first professional loan, so it was kind of like moving away from home for the first time, getting to know new people in a new dressing room for the first time – coming out of your comfort zone and stuff like that.
“I took a lot from that loan move.”
Roberts believes he is ready to hit the ground running with the Dons when the league season gets under way this weekend.
He said: “I feel ready. We’ve done a lot of hard running at Notts and played a few games, so I’m good to go.
“Obviously there are expectations with a big football club like this and success is the only thing the club wants, so hopefully I can contribute to that.”
Roberts was capped by England at under-20 level and is a product of the Newcastle United youth academy.
He made two appearances for Newcastle United and scored in a 4-2 FA Cup win against Blackburn Rovers in 2019.
Roberts had loan spells at Gateshead, Killie and Colchester United before moving to Blyth Spartans where he scored 17 goals in 25 appearances in the 2019-20 season. He joined Notts County in January 2020.
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin said: “Callum is technically a very good player. He scored 16 goals last season for Notts County which is an impressive return.
“Jayden Richardson obviously knows him very well as they both played on the right-hand side for Notts County and were very successful together.
“I’ve spoken about the need for a bit more creativity and the good thing about Callum is that he can play off the right as a number 10 or also in central midfield as an attacking midfielder, so he gives us a number of different options.
“He’s a great age with good energy and pace and is another exciting one for the fans to look forward too.”
An unbelievable feeling to sign for this great club, cant wait to get going 🔴⚪️ @AberdeenFC pic.twitter.com/yBYPsV6WQf
— Cal Roberts (@Calroberts_) July 25, 2022
The Reds, meanwhile, expect to learn over the next week if a move for Wolves midfielder Connor Ronan will be possible.
Wolves boss Bruno Lage took Ronan on the club’s pre-season tour to Spain and Portugal to get a closer look at the 24-year-old, who has also been linked with Hearts and German side St Pauli.
Ronan started for Wolves in a 2-1 friendly defeat against Levante in Alicante last week and Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Villarreal B.
The Dons have had two bids rejected for Fleetwood Town winger Shayden Morris, while Aberdeen boss Goodwin is also in the market for a left back.
