Aberdeen’s expansive scouting network has stretched to the other side of the world with the club set to sign Australian winger Nicolas Milanovic.
The 23-year-old will move to the Dons on a multi-year deal at the end of the season.
Aberdeen are set to pay A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers around £400,000 to land the Australia under-23 international.
Milanovic is one of the hottest talents in Australian football and is in the race to win the A-League golden boot award with 12 goals this season.
The winger has been key in Western Sydney Wanderers’ best season in a decade where they are in contention for the title.
Milanovic is tipped to break into the Australia senior squad and turned down potential moves to Europe last year after a breakthrough season.
Nicolas Milanovic valued at ‘millions’
Such is the winger’s reputation, former Australian international Tommy Oar recently said Western Sydney Wanderers should sell him for “millions“.
So it appears landing Milanovic for £400,000 is fantastic business by Aberdeen.
It is a deal reminiscent of the Dons’ capture of Miovski from Hungarian top-flight club MTK Budapest in summer 2022.
MTK Budapest rejected an offer of €1.2 million (£1.03m) in summer 2021 from Rapid Vienna for the striker.
A number of clubs including Czech Republic outfit Slavia Prague were keen on signing Miovski in January 2023, but were quoted a price of around £1.5m.
Aberdeen beat off competition from clubs in Belgium, Russia, Hungary, Switzerland and Poland to sign Miovski.
Aberdeen land Miovski bargain
The Dons were able to sign the striker for the bargain fee of £545,000 following MTK Budapest’s relegation from the top-flight.
Dropping down into the second tier sparked a fire-sale of the club’s overseas players, including Miovski and Ylber Ramadani, who the Reds also bought for £100,000.
Aberdeen capitalised on a clause in Hungarian football where any club relegated from the top-flight must offload their overseas talent.
Signing Miovski and Ramadani at cut-down prices was a masterstroke by the Dons.
They were both the perfect embodiment of Aberdeen’s player trading model.
Secure players with potential to hit higher levels, get a season or two of high performance out of them in the first team, then sell for a considerable profit.
Ramadani delivered one superb season before being sold to Italian Serie A club Lecce for £1.1m.
Selling on for a substantial profit
North Macedonian Miovski scored 18 times in his debut campaign then followed that up with 26 goals last season.
Miovski was sold to Spanish La Liga club last summer in a deal which could land the Dons up to £9million with potential add-ons and sell-on.
There is a sense Aberdeen could have secured a similar bargain with Milanovic, who can shine at Pittodrie before being sold for a major profit.
That will be the hope within Pittodrie as boss Jimmy Thelin begins his bid to further strengthen the squad for next season.
Aberdeen are spreading the net around the globe in the search for talent to fit their player trading model.
Signings in the summer window
Boss Thelin is working in conjunction with head of recruitment Nuno de Almeida to source signings for the summer transfer window.
Aberdeen are also set to hire former Tottenham full-back and Swedish international Erik Edman as a scout.
At the club’s AGM, chief executive Alan Burrows also said the club hoped the strategic partnership with Atlanta United could help source targets in the South American market.
The net is being spread far and wide in the hope of finding the next Miovski that can shine in the first team and deliver a massive profit.
And they may have found one in Milanovic.
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