Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin insists Pape Gueye has an X-factor that makes him different from other players at Pittodrie.
Former Senegal under-20 international Gueye ended a four month injury nightmare when coming off the bench in the 3-0 Scottish Cup win at Elgin City.
The 25-year-old had been ruled out since late September having suffered a quad muscle tear that required surgery.
Gueye was the leading scorer in the Premiership with five goals from five games when he was ruled out by injury.
Despite being sidelined for 16 weeks he still remains Aberdeen’s leading scorer in the league this season.
Thelin aim to sign a striker during the January transfer window to add to the four new additions already secured this month.
However Thelin reckons the return of Gueye is a major boost to his attack for the second half of the campaign.
He said: “The positive thing is that Pape is different from some of our other players.
“He has some strengths that they don’t have in that part of the team with his power inside the box.
“Pape’s impact on set plays is also important so he can add some abilities to make the team stronger.”
Attacker Gueye has a hunger to play
Gueye was introduced off the bench for Dante Polvara in the 58th minute at Borough Briggs.
It was his first game time since scoring in a 4-0 League Cup win against Spartans on September 25.
Under manager Thelin attacker Gueye resurrected his Aberdeen career and became one of the form goal-scorers in Scotland before his injury.
It was a remarkable turnaround in fortune.
Aberdeen paid £500,000 to sign the attacker from Belgian club KV Kortrijk in summer 2023.
He endured a frustrating debut season with just one start and 132 minutes of first-team action before being sent on loan in February 2024 to Kristiansund in Norway.
Gueye made a positive impact in Norway with six goals and three assists in 15 appearances.
He returned to Pittodrie in July and made the most of the clean slate offered by Thelin to every player.
Thelin said: “Pape scored some important goals for us at the start of the season before getting injured.
“I really like the spirit of players who want to be inside the squad.
“That is a great spirit to have.
“Pape showed on the training pitch recently that he is hungry to play.”
Strengthening in January window
Despite his long term injury absence Gueye is still only five goals behind the leading scorers in the Premiership.
That mantle is currently held by Sam Dalby (Dundee United) and Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic) who are on both on 10 goals.
Dalby hit 10 goals in 22 games with Furuhashi hitting that tally in 20 games.
Gueye scored five Premiership goals in five games.
Thelin has already bolstered his squad during the window by splashing more than £1million to strengthen the defence.
Left-back Alexander Jensen was signed for £545,000 from Swedish Allsvenskan club Brommapojkarna.
Latvian international centre-back Kristers Tobers was secured in a £600,000 swoop from Swiss top flight Grasshoppers.
Centre-back Alfie Dorrington (Tottenham) and winger Jeppe Okkels (Preston North End) were secured on loan until the end of the season.
Signing a goal-scorer a priority
Thelin and head of recruitment Nuno de Almeida are actively working to further strengthen in the window, with the signing of a striker a priority.
Aberdeen’s lack of cutting edge in attack was a major contributing factor in a 12 game winless slump prior to securing a victory at Elgin..
However as work to secure signings continues Thelin insists improvement must not only come from new signings, but the players already at the club.
He said: “We have to push the limits and improve ourselves.
“And that’s my job, my staff and also the responsibility of the players.
“The standards every day have to be so high so we get better and better and better.
“During a season you experience many things, good times and bad times.
“You go into three competitions every season and you want to challenge everyone.
“And the league is the standard of your team over so many games.
“It is there in the league you see which level you are.”
Conversation