New Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin transformed Elfsborg’s bank balance from £1m to £30m with his shrewd transfer business.
And the Swede has been backed to also turbo boost Aberdeen’s finances, and first team – if he is given complete control of the recruitment process at Pittodrie.
That is the opinion of football writer Joel Besseling who reports on Thelin’s former club Eflsborg for the Göteborgs-Posten in Sweden.
Besseling says Thelin’s squad-building skills and knowledge of transfer markets transformed Elfsborg.
And he reckons the Pittodrie board must give the 46-year-old complete autonomy with signings to ensure he can repeat that success at Aberdeen.
However, Besseling warns it is unlikely Thelin will raid his former club for signings – as they are beyond the Dons’ price range.
Besseling said: “Under Jimmy, Elfsborg went from £1m of their own capital in the bank to around £30m.
“That is mostly from selling players.
“Jimmy started to recruit players that they could sell on for much more money.
“I know he has to get results, but his ability as a manager is also in squad building.
“Aberdeen should allow Jimmy to do that because that is where he will succeed.
“At Elfsborg, they know their chain of command.
“If the players are successful, they go abroad.
“It’s hard for me to say if Jimmy can do that at Aberdeen because I don’t know how patient they are.
“Aberdeen should give him that control because he can find that talent and bring success.”
Selling players for multi-millions
One player Thelin unearthed, developed in the first team and then sold for a substantial fee is keeper Hákon Valdimarsson.
Thelin signed the keeper from Icelandic second-tier side Grótta when Valdimarsson was a teenager in 2021.
Valdimarsson went on to become an Icelandic international and Elfsborg’s first-choice stopper.
He was named goalkeeper of the year in the Swedish top-flight last season as Elfsborg finished Allsvenskan runners-up.
Valdimarsson, 22, registered the most clean sheets in the Swedish top-flight (13) and had the highest save percentage (78).
Elfsborg finished runners-up to Malmö on goal difference.
English Premier League side Brentford signed Valdimarsson from Elfsborg for £3m in January on a contract until summer 2028.
Brentford retain the option to extend the keeper’s contract by an additional two years.
Celtic, Aston Vila, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers were also understood to be interested in the keeper in January.
Will Thelin reunite with Brentford keeper Valdimarsson?
Aberdeen have also been credited with an interest in a loan move for Valdimarsson as Thelin could team up with his former keeper.
Valdimarsson has yet to feature for Brentford since his January move.
Besseling said: “Aberdeen didn’t have a good season this year, so my guess is that they’re squad will not be as good as Jimmy wants it to be.
“He needs time.
“He can’t get the two years that he got in Sweden.
“But maybe one year of getting a similar position of the recent season such as sixth or seventh.
“Then the next year go for third spot.”
‘I would be surprised if I saw an Elfsborg player in an Aberdeen shirt’
Another recent recruitment success for Thelin is defender Gustaf Lagerbielke, who transferred from Elfsborg to Celtic for £3m last summer.
Thelin signed Lagerbielke from then Swedish second-tier club Västerås SK in 2021.
In November, Lagerbielke was named the Swedish Allsvenskan’s defender of the year after his time at Elfsborg.
However, Besseling warned not to expect an influx of Elfsborg talent at Pittodrie.
He said: “I would be surprised if I saw an Elfsborg player in an Aberdeen shirt.
“I think it is complicated for Thelin to go after Elfsborg players.
“There are clubs with bigger economies go after these Elfsborg players and can challenge more for them than Aberdeen can.
“Four players in the starting XI are over 30 and the rest are early 20s and I think they would be worth more than Aberdeen can pay.
“It would be tough.”
Thelin oversaw ‘everything’ at Elfsborg
Thelin will begin his Aberdeen career with a Premier Sports Cup group stage clash at Queen of the South on Saturday, July 13.
He has been replaced at Elfsborg by Oscar Hiljemark, who was previously manager at Danish top-flight club Aalborg BK.
Besseling said: “Jimmy has left big shoes to fill from multiple perspectives.
“He built the team and he had so much responsibility at Elfsborg.
“Jimmy was responsible for all the recruiting, the staff, players and the scouting – everything.”
Conversation