Jim Goodwin has said that Aberdeen are a “great example” of a club who know how to produce their own talent and sell them at a profit.
The Dons sold Calvin Ramsay to Liverpool in a deal worth up to £8 million earlier this summer after the youngster broke into the first team last year. The 18-year-old’s move to Anfield was a club record fee and broke the previous record set by Scott McKenna in 2020 when he moved to Nottingham Forest.
McKenna also came through the Aberdeen youth academy and Goodwin could be set to hand regular game time this season to the next talent to roll off the production line. Jack Milne and Ryan Duncan have impressed the Reds’ manager in pre-season and could follow in the footsteps of Ramsay, Connor Barron and Jack MacKenzie by breaking into the first team.
Goodwin said: “It is very similar to the way we did things at St Mirren during my time there. I gave half a dozen of the kids there their debuts.
“I take a lot of pride in that as a young manager because it is a huge part of the game regardless of what level you are at. For football clubs to be sustainable now they have to be able to bring that level of quality through the academy system. Otherwise it makes the whole investment pointless.
“In fairness to the board of the directors and the chairman they have build a great facility at Cormack Park and Calvin Ramsay has pretty much paid for it off the back of that move a couple of weeks ago which is fantastic. It is a great example to all the other clubs out there of how to do things. We have great academy coaches who are working tirelessly behind the scenes as you would expect.
“As manager I need to make sure that road to the first team is there for them. When they see guys like Calvin, Jack MacKenzie and Connor Barron making that step from the academy it gives them a real lift. The parents as well it gives them a bit of optimism that they can see a potential opportunity there for their kids to go and play for Aberdeen’s first team.”
Aberdeen return to competitive action this weekend when they face Peterhead in the Premier Sports Cup. And there could be some surprise inclusions in Goodwin’s starting line-up as he considers extending Duncan and Milne’s contracts.
He said: “We have Ryan Duncan who is in with the squad. Young Jack Milne is one that I really, really like. He is six foot three, maybe even six four.
“The academy guys deserve a lot of credit because they turned him from a central midfielder into a centre half. He still has a lot to learn in terms of that position but he is one I’m very excited about.
“He has all the attributes you would want from a modern day centre back in terms of the height, the physical profile. He has pace, is comfortable on the ball and we now just have to find a way to open the pathway up to get him into the team. He has a lot of experienced players ahead of him at the moment.
“We might get him some more game time in the friendlies to come and also in the League Cup. He is one that we would like to extend.”
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