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Sean Wallace: Will Peter Ambrose be Aberdeen’s next signing coup from Hungary?

Aberdeen have previous success in the Hungarian transfer market having signed goal hero Bojan Miovski and Euro 2024 star midfielder Ylber Ramadani in bargain deals from MTK Budapest.

New Aberdeen signing Peter Ambrose. Image: Aberdeen FC.
New Aberdeen signing Peter Ambrose. Image: Aberdeen FC.

Striker Peter Ambrose could deliver Aberdeen a hat-trick of signing coups from the Hungarian transfer market.

Pittodrie boss Jimmy Thelin kick-started his summer rebuild with the capture of Ambrose and defender Gavin Molloy.

Defender Molloy, 22, penned a three-year contract from League of Ireland Premier League leaders Shelbourne.

And Aberdeen returned to Hungary to sign Ambrose from top flight Újpest FC on a three-year deal with the Dons holding the option for a fourth year.

Ambrose was Újpest FC’s top scorer last season with 10 goals in 27 starts as the club finished just above the relegation zone.

There are clear similarities with Ambrose’s career in the Hungarian top flight and Dons goal hero Miovski.

Striker Bojan Miovski celebrates after scoring a penalty to put Aberdeen 1-0 up against St Johnstone at Pittodrie. Image; Shutterstock
Striker Bojan Miovski celebrates after scoring a penalty to put Aberdeen 1-0 up against St Johnstone at Pittodrie. Image: Shutterstock.

They have a similar goal return for a team that struggled in the Hungarian top flight.

Miovski scored 10 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions in his final campaign for MTK Budapest before transferring to Pittodrie in 2022.

Most of Miovski’s goals came in the first half of the campaign with MTK Budapest when played as a striker.

They dried up when a new manager, György Bognár, was appointed and played him sparingly or out of position on the right wing.

MTK Budapest were relegated from the Hungarian top flight in 2022 and that sparked a fire-sale of their overseas talent.

That was due to a clause in Hungarian football where any club relegated from the top-flight must offload overseas players.

Bojan Miovksi celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 to the Dons against Celtic in in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Image: SNS

Aberdeen swooped to capitalize and beat off competition from clubs in Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Russia, Germany and Switzerland to sign Miovski for a bargain £535,000.

It was arguably Aberdeen’s greatest signing coup of the last 20 years as Miovski netted 26 goals in all competitions last season in a struggling team.

The Dons are braced for bids for Miovski this summer with clubs from Italy (Bologna), Netherlands (Feyenoord), Germany and England (Southampton) all linked with the goal hero.

Miovski is contracted until summer 2026 and surely it would take a bid of around £10 million to tempt the Dons to sell him.

Whether Ambrose can make a similar impact when arriving from the OTP Bank Liga is a mammoth ask – but the striker appears to have the raw talent required.

New Dons boss Thelin is renowned for sourcing talent and developing them into players that can make a major impact for the first team.

And then be sold at a significant profit.

Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski celebrates with Duk after scoring to make it 1-0 in the Scottish Cup semi-finaL Image; SNS
Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski celebrates with Duk after scoring to make it 1-0 in the Scottish Cup semi-finaL Image: SNS.

It makes sense for Aberdeen to return to Hungary following their success in that market recently.

Aberdeen also raided MTK Budapest in summer 2022 to sign Albanian international midfielder Ramadani for £100,000.

After a superb first season where Ramadani was key to securing qualification for the group stages of Europe the midfielder was sold to Serie A Lecce for £1.2m last summer.

Such was the extent of Ramadani’s impact Italian top flight giants Inter Milan were linked with a swoop for the midfielder.

Aberdeen have a 10% sell-on clause if Ramadani transfers out of Lecce.

The 28-year-old is currently starring for Albania at Euro 2024 and impressed when starting in the 2-1 group loss to defending champions Italy.

Former Aberdeen midfielder Ylber Ramadani in action for Lecce, as he closes down Antonio Sanabria of Torino. Image: Shutterstock

Aberdeen made a £1.1m profit on Ramadani and could yet profit further on the midfielder.

The Dons will cash in to the tune of multi-millions when Miovski is inevitably sold.

Both Miovski and Ramadani also contributed significantly to the first team.

Whether Ambrose can follow in their footsteps remains to be seen – but he is certainly coming in from the right market.

Yilber Ramadani celebrates at full-time after Aberdeen beat Rangers 2-0 at Pittodrie. Image: SNS

Scots can resurrect Euro campaign

If there’s one positive from Scotland’s 5-1 mauling by Germany it is Steve Clarke’s squad cannot perform any worse.

Such was the shocking levels displayed by the Scots against the tournament hosts in Munch surely the only way is up.

Or is that just clutching at straws?

Scotland are far, far better than they displayed in that howler against the Germans where there was a concerning lack of energy and organisation.

Yet, let’s be honest.

Apart from the nature of the defeat Scotland are in a position where the vast majority of the Tartan Army would have expected, pointless after facing Germany.

Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney look dejected after the Scotland game.
Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney look dejected after the Scotland game. Image: Shutterstock.

The games against Switzerland and Hungary were always going to be the key fixtures.

Although tonight’s clash against the Swiss is not necessarily a must win it is certainly a must not lose.

That embarrassing defeat to Germany will have hurt the Scots.

They have to make sure that pain motivates them against the Swiss rather than stifles them.

Tonight is the time for players like captain Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Callum McGregor and Scott McTominay to step up and lead by example.

Too many were anonymous against Germany.

They can reignite their bid tonight to make history by being the first Scotland squad to qualify from the group stages at a major tournament.

Or if they flop again they can leave their Euro campaign with more holes than a Swiss cheese.

 

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