Aberdeen must sign a replacement for midfielder Ylber Ramadani during the January transfer window.
The Albanian international has been a huge loss since his transfer to Serie A club Lecce in the summer.
Ramadani was a hugely important part of the Dons team last season and I feel his absence has had an impact.
He has proved to be a huge loss, as his aggression, work rate, game intelligence and drive were so important.
Ramadani delivered vital tackles and quickly recycled the ball.
In many ways, Ramadani was the unsung hero of Aberdeen as a lot of his superb work maybe went under the radar.
His quality is underlined by how much the Dons miss the midfielder, so it is vital they sign a player with similar qualities in the upcoming winter window.
Ramadani was sold to Lecce for £1.1 million in the summer, which is a considerable return on the £100,000 the Dons paid to sign him from MTK Budapest.
He has made a huge impact in the Italian top-flight and recently netted a superb late winner in a 2-1 Serie A defeat of Frosinone.
Now Inter Milan, last season’s beaten Champions League finalists, are reportedly lining up a January swoop for Ramadani.
Ylber Ramadani. That's it that's the tweet. ⚽️🇦🇱#LecceFrosinone | @OfficialUSLecce pic.twitter.com/Lwcsmt4zeo
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 17, 2023
Aberdeen made 13 signings in the summer transfer window, but I feel they never really replaced Ramadani.
That has to be addressed when the winter window opens next week.
In the January window, Aberdeen will also ideally sign another centre-back to add cover and competition to such a pivotal role.
Liverpool centre-back Rhys Williams is on his way back to Anfield, so another player in that position is needed.
No factors forcing Aberdeen to sell star striker Bojan Miovski
When the January transfer window opens there will inevitably be interest in the Dons’ leading goal-scorer Bojan Miovski.
Celtic and English Championship Southampton have already been linked with the 24-year-old and I’m sure more clubs will follow.
However, the key factor is that Aberdeen do not have to sell Miovski next month.
He is on a long-term contract until summer 2026, so the Dons are very much in the driving seat.
North Macedonian international Miovski has already netted 14 goals in all competitions this season.
That follows up from his 18 goals last term.
This season Miovski has also proven he can score in Europe with goals against Hacken, HJK Helsinki and PAOK.
That will also have alerted clubs as to the striker’s quality.
Miovski is invaluable to Aberdeen.
Ultimately every player has a price – but the Reds are in a strong position as there are no factors forcing them to sell.
The fee has to be right for Aberdeen to sell Miovski, and hopefully he will stay at Pittodrie.
Hopefully we get more freshness from Aberdeen in 2024
As well as the transfer window, January will also see a near-three-week winter break for the Premiership.
Aberdeen face Ross County on Tuesday, January 2 and are not in action again until the Scottish Cup tie at Clyde on Friday, January 19.
Ideally the Dons will emerge from the winter break with a freshness for the second half of the season.
Aberdeen had been quite flat in many games so far, although they had a punishing schedule in balancing Europa Conference League group action with domestic commitments.
There have been games when Aberdeen have performed very well, particularly in Europe and the 3-1 defeat of Rangers at Ibrox.
There is a strong team there – but they have to produce that consistently.
Aberdeen’s lowly league position of eighth in the Premiership is disappointing, although they have games in hand.
The Reds must attack 2024 and rise up the table.
Right decision to call off match
It was the right decision to call off Aberdeen’s Premiership game against Motherwell at Pittodrie on Wednesday.
The main priority had to be the safety of supporters and travelling conditions were horrendous as Storm Gerrit battered Scotland.
Many roads were treacherous or even closed and you had to think about supporters travelling to the game.
It would have been far too dangerous and not worth it.
The match against Motherwell was the second consecutive Aberdeen fixture to be postponed.
The Premiership clash against Dundee at Dens Park on Saturday was also called off.
However, the decision to postpone the match in Dundee was made far too late – just 52 minutes before the scheduled 3pm kick-off.
Most of the 3,500-strong travelling Dons fans were already in Dundee when referee David Munro called off the fixture.
Dundee were adamant the pitch was playable and Aberdeen were desperate to play.
Thousands of Reds fans had given up their time and paid out hard-earned money to travel to Dundee – two days before Christmas.
To make that journey for nothing is not acceptable, and a decision should have been made much earlier.
Cove can push for promotion in 2024
Hopefully Cove Rangers can secure promotion back to the Championship in 2024.
Paul Hartley’s side have climbed back up the table recently with an impressive run of form to underline their promotion credentials.
They are now up to third in the League One table.
Cove face a tough trip to Montrose on Saturday – and will be gunning to go into 2024 with winning momentum.
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