Aberdeen will be disappointed they did not get much first-team payback for all the years they spent developing Connor Barron.
The Dons put a lot of time, money and effort into Barron’s progression through the youth ranks to the first team.
However, Barron made just 57 starts in all competitions, with a further 19 off the bench, before leaving the club for Rangers this summer.
Barron signed a four-year contract with the Ibrox club.
Aberdeen will be hurting a player they developed from a very young age did not stick around to get more game-time with the first team.
It is similar to another Pittodrie youth academy graduate, Ryan Fraser, who left before the Dons got enough first-team contribution from him.
Fraser joined Bournemouth when he was just 18 years old in 2013, and having played just 21 times for Aberdeen.
Scotland international Fraser would go on to help the Cherries climb up the leagues to the English top-flight.
The Pittodrie youth system also produced Scotland internationals Scott McKenna and Ryan Jack in recent years.
However, both McKenna and Jack played a decent amount of games in the first-team before exiting Pittodrie.
And in McKenna’s case, Aberdeen bagged a substantial transfer fee of £3million when he transferred to Nottingham Forest in 2020.
Barron is a very talented player, but I would suggest it will be tough for him to cement a place in that Rangers team.
So we are going to have to wait and see if signing for Rangers proves the right career move for Barron.
There is also a rivalry between Aberdeen and Rangers, so I’m sure Dons fans will be unhappy he has moved to Ibrox.
The best outcome for Aberdeen was if Barron signed for a club in England or overseas.
You do not want a player you have spent years developing to then move to one of your main rivals.
Ultimately, though, Barron moving to another Scottish Premiership club was out with Aberdeen’s hands.
His contract had run down and he was a free agent.
Barron views Rangers as the next step in his career and Aberdeen just have to accept that.
It came as no surprise that Barron left Aberdeen, as it was pretty obvious for a while he viewed his future away from Pittodrie,
Aberdeen tried to persuade him to stay, but he rejected the offer of a new deal.
Barron is a young, talented player that was always going to attract interest, particularly if he is out of contact.
If Aberdeen and Rangers do not reach a fee for the midfielder, it will have to go to a tribunal.
If Barron had signed for a club outwith Scotland ,the Dons would be due training compensation of around £500,000.
So Rangers will have to pay at least that for Barron or risk going to a tribunal.
Compensation has to reflect Aberdeen’s investment into Barron over the years to develop him to the level he is now at.
If you are developing players, but not getting that long-term payback in the team, then compensation is vitally important.
Everyone at Aberdeen will be disappointed to see Barron leave Aberdeen, but that is a reality of football.
What the Dons now have to do is reinvest whatever fee they get for the midfielder into developing the next Connor Barron.
Aberdeen must keep trying to get players through the youth ranks into the first team.
Meanwhile, the signing of Dimitar Mitov is a very shrewd move from Aberdeen.
I watched him at St Johnstone last season, when he was very impressive.
Aberdeen knew the situation with Mitov – that there was a clause in the contract to get him from St Johnstone.
He is a top-quality keeper and I’m looking forward to seeing him in between the sticks.
Slow build-up game stifles Scotland
There must be much analysis and thought into what went wrong for Scotland at Euro 2024 to find how it can be improved going forward.
Scotland delivered a shocker in the 5-1 loss to Germany before recovering to draw 1-1 against Switzerland.
It was all there for the taking in the final group game against Hungary, but the Scots were so disappointing.
Scotland had plenty of the ball – however, I’m fed up hearing they controlled the game.
Hungary just wanted to give Scotland the ball. They weren’t interested in putting them under pressure.
So it was actually Hungary that controlled the game as they allowed the three centre-backs and Billy Gilmour plenty of time on the ball.
However, Scotland’s build-up was so passive, tired and slow.
Scotland cannot play at that tempo.
We are not a nation that can keep the ball and do the tippy-tappy Spanish style of football and break into the final third.
The slow build-up drags Scotland into a lethargic form of football that is quite alien to us.
I was expecting a more positive and direct approach from Scotland against Hungary.
But they barely created any chances until the frantic last 10 minutes.
Going out with the last-gasp goal deep into injury time from Kevin Csoboth left the nation gutted. It was a bitter blow.
Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.
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