Bojan Miovski was Aberdeen’s undisputed main man last season, but following his departure and a 10-game winning start under Jimmy Thelin, fans reckon at least 12 candidates could be labelled the Dons’ “best” player.
Following a friendly debate in the office on Monday afternoon, in the wake of the Reds’ 2-1 Pittodrie victory over Motherwell, I opened the conversation up to Aberdeen supporters on X, writing:
“Today’s fun office debate, and a question that was easy six months ago and is now much trickier (for the right reasons) – Who is now Aberdeen’s best player? Could make a case for about half the squad in my opinion, depending if you are only considering current form, best form etc.”
“Best” player is. of course, vague and means different things to different fans.
It could be taken as best individual form right now, best in terms of talent, career ceiling and sell-on value, or most indispensable player to Thelin’s team – or a mixture of these elements.
Dons supporters were happy to give their answers, with close to 100 responses by Tuesday morning.
Some named multiple players, due to not being able to split them, or different names for different criteria, while others just gave their one stand-out name.
The two clear frontrunners were defensive midfielder (and summer signing) Sivert Heltne Nilsen – with Hugh Little describing the Norwegian as the “radical change” in the playing squad this term, who is “allowing the defenders to defend calmly and the attackers to attack freely” – and Irish attacking midfielder Jamie McGrath, with his three goals and three assists so far.
On Nilsen, Grant Heath said: “Not the flashiest player, but his knack of being in the right place at the right time is incredible. Totally dictates what goes on in the midfield and simplified the game for everyone around him. Enabled Shinnie to get back to his best, too.”
On McGrath, analyst Chris Blyth added: “For all-round performance this season, my model suggests only Nicolas Kuhn and Alistair Johnston (Celtic) have out-performed Jamie McGrath on a per-90 basis.”
Next in the voting was creative middle-man Leighton Clarkson. He missed a few games with a shoulder fracture, but many supporters think he has the most talent (one described him as the “most technically-gifted”) of any player at Aberdeen.
After him was summer goalkeeping addition Dimitar Mitov, who has five clean sheets in nine competitive Reds outings, and who has “saved us from dropping multiple points already this season”.
Skipper Graeme Shinnie’s influence, current five-goal Premiership top-scorer Pape Gueye, rejuvenated winger Shayden Morris (with one goal and five assists so far) and centre-halves Gavin Molloy and Slobodan Rubezic were also named.
New wideman Topi Keskinen, now a senior Finland international, was pointed to as one of the players who has the highest potential career trajectory following his early displays for the club, while – following his first start on Saturday – former £6 million midfielder Ante Palaversa has others excited.
Mr A wrote: “If Palaversa stays fit, it’s probably him. He’s only 24 and has already been transferred for £6m in his career. The lad is clearly a massive talent, he just needs a bit of luck staying injury free.”
Finally, Duk’s talent has not been forgotten by some supporters, despite the striker, who scored 18 goals in the 2022/23 season, having only recently returned after going AWOL in the summer.
Who do you think is Aberdeen’s best player/key man?
Conversation