Pittodrie legend Eoin Jess warns retaining star striker Bojan Miovski is vital to Jimmy Thelin’s first season as Aberdeen manager.
Jess reckons Swede Thelin will be doing his utmost to keep Miovski at Pittodrie beyond the window to spearhead his attack next season.
However, Dons great Jess fears “money talks” – like when the Pittodrie great was sold to Coventry City in 1996 for a then-club record £1.75m fee.
North Macedonia international Miovki is on the radar of clubs across Europe after scoring 26 goals last season.
Italian Serie A club Bologna are tracking the 25-year-old with the view to a summer transfer window swoop.
Bologna raided Pittodrie in 2022 to secure midfielder Lewis Ferguson in a £3m transfer.
Having finished third in Serie A, Bologna have qualified for the group stage of the Champions League for the upcoming season.
Dutch giants Feyenoord were also linked with Miovski and can also offer Champions League group action.
Promoted back to the English top-flight, Southampton have also targeted Miovski.
Premiership champions Celtic sent scouts to watch Miovski in a number of games last season.
Clubs in Spain and Germany are also showing interest in the striker, who has two years remaining on his Aberdeen contract.
Jess, 53, said: “It is important Aberdeen hold on to Miovski as he had a fantastic season in a struggling side.
“Miovski is a real goalscorer and a constant threat.
“He works really hard for the team and seems a good character.
“I’m sure Jimmy Thelin will be trying his best to keep him.
“However, it is going to be difficult to keep hold of him this summer.”
Miovski to join Dons in Portugal
Miovski did not return for pre-season training this week as he was granted an extended break due to international duty.
The striker started in North Macedonia’s 3-0 friendly away defeat to Croatia on June 3.
He was an unused substitute in North Macedonia’s away friendly loss to Czechia on June 10.
Miovski will meet up with the Dons squad at their warm-weather training camp in Portugal next week.
In 1996, Jess was sold by Aberdeen to then-English top-flight Coventry City for £1.75m.
It was a club record for the Dons that stood for more than two decades.
It was eventually smashed when Scott McKenna transferred to Nottingham Forest for £3m in 2020.
Aberdeen have since received a further £1.75m in add-ons to bump the fee up to £4.75m.
The Dons landed an additional £1m in 2022 when the centre-back earned promotion to the Premier League after Forest beat Huddersfield Town in the play-off final.
And the Reds got a £750,000 boost when Forest secured their survival in the top-flight at the end of the 2022-23 season.
‘Money talks sometimes’
That Aberdeen club record fee was broken again when Calvin Ramsay transferred to Liverpool in summer 2022.
Liverpool paid an initial £4.5m upfront, but that fee could rise to £7m with add-ons.
Right-back Ramsay recently moved to Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan from the Anfield club.
Aberdeen are braced for bids for Miovski this summer and are in no rush to sell their striker.
It would take a new club record transfer fee to tempt the Dons board to sell Miovski.
Jess said: “It would be a huge loss if Aberdeen lose Miovki this summer.
“But money talks sometimes, as in my transfer.
“Hopefully they can hold on to Miovski, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
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