Elgin City are closing in on Aberdeen striker Liam Harvey, who is returning to his hometown club on a six-month loan switch.
The 18-year-old centre forward will become Ross Draper’s second piece of business since taking over this summer, following on from the three-year deal given to attacking midfielder Russell Dingwall.
With prolific talisman Kane Hester moving on League One Montrose, Elgin are light on options in the front-line.
However, with Elgin-born Harvey joining on an initial six-month agreement, Draper is delighted to add bite up top.
He said: “We’re looking to bring in Liam Harvey on loan from Aberdeen and then we will be looking to get one or two more done this week or next.
“Liam will arrive initially for six months, and Aberdeen will decide in January. He’s a local player and it’s a move which makes sense.
“He is a good lad, and he works his socks off. He brings the presence and energy in the final third that I’m after.”
Centre forward Harvey made his Dons debut when he came off the bench in a 1-0 defeat at St Johnstone in May 2022, but didn’t feature at all last season, and was an unused sub in the opening game against Celtic last July.
The academy graduate, who moved from Elgin Boys’ Club to Aberdeen aged 11, has continued to impress at youth level, and it’s thought a competitive loan period at Elgin will be a smart move for all parties.
Cooney could ‘fit the bill’ – Draper
And the former Scotland under-17 player could be joined by former Dundee United defender Nathan Cooney, who was mostly recently at Highland League champions Brechin City.
Cooney, 21, played for City in their 5-1 friendly win against Rothes on Tuesday night and could be in line for a move should he continue to impress Draper in training and in Saturday’s game at Huntly.
Draper is keen not to rush into any signings, but said Cooney, who had a loan spell with the Moray club two years ago, might well fit the bill.
He said: “Nathan has just come in to keep fit and train with us. I knew he had left Brechin. I like him, he’s a good lad and he’s what we’re after.
“He’s calm on the ball and doesn’t panic. He can play centre-half or right-back, so we’ll maybe discuss (a contract) later on. At the moment, he’s just training with us.
“He had a tight hamstring on Tuesday and that’s why he came off. We will rest him on Thursday (at training) and maybe see him on Saturday (against Huntly).”
Striker Barron linked to City move
Elgin have also been linked to Forres Mechanics attacker Ben Barron, 18, who came through the ranks at Inverness.
He impressed Draper as recently as last week as the Can-Can won their opening bounce match at Elgin 3-1.
When asked about Barron as a target, Draper added: “Not at the minute. Ben (Barron) is someone I like. We played against him last week and he was a handful. We will see.
“But we must be patient. I don’t want to get boys in for the sake of it. Then you might find someone else becomes available and you’re left with a squad of 23 or 24 and (interim chairwoman) Isla (Benzie) tells me I’ve spent my budget.
“We will take our time. We have a three-year project, and we certainly don’t want to get boys in too early and regret it.”
City getting up to match speed – boss
The City player-manager was keen to give more of his squad a run-out against Rothes, who were low in numbers this week, but took positives from a strong display in which he played the full 90 minutes.
He said: “We’re already missing Jake (Dolzanksi), Matthew (Cooper), Mitch (Taylor) and Fin (Allen) is struggling a little bit, so it’s a balancing act between getting boys fit and protecting the boys.
“The Forres game was 45 minutes for many, while Tuesday was closer to getting up to match speed. They looked good. We’re taking it day by day and there are more tests to come.”