Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has elaborated on why in-demand striker Bojan Miovski has yet to feature this season, stating that the decision is aimed at “calming the situation” surrounding the player and ensuring he is “100 percent” focused.
Miovski, who has garnered strong interest from Serie A clubs Bologna and Genoa, is also being monitored by teams in England, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands as they consider potential moves during the summer transfer window.
The Dons talisman netted 26 times from 53 appearances last season and still has two years left on his Aberdeen contract, with the Dons’ hierarchy making it clear that it would require a record fee to prize him away from the north-east.
He was not included among the 20-man squad for the season opener, where Aberdeen secured a 3-0 away victory over Queen of the South in the Premier Sports Cup. However, Miovski did return for last Saturday's visit to East Kilbride, but remained an unused substitute as his team triumphed 4-0.
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Aberdeen now have a Group A home double header against Airdrieonians and Dumbarton this week, and Thelin reckons Miovski is now ready to get minutes on the pitch after allowing Ester Sokler and Peter Ambrose the opportunity to deputise in his absence.
“In the beginning he was not 100%," the Aberdeen boss explained.
"But now he is 100%. We had a talk before the first cup game as there were a lot of things going around him.
“So we calmed down the situation a little bit and focused on the training.
“Now he is ready to play again and that is where we are right now.”
Miovski may still depart during this transfer window, and while Thelin would love to work with the North Macedonian goalscorer long-term, he admitted he's been surprised by the impact some other players have made thus far.
He added: "I think it is still quite early in the transfer window but we are going to get closer and closer to it closing. So far we have tried to push the players on the training pitch.
"I wanted to keep that hunger and to prove themselves and catching up with the team evolution and how we grow as a team. Some players have surprised in a positive way.
"For example, I hadn’t seen so much before of Shayden [Morris] but he is someone that is doing really well now. I think some players also have more to give.
"We always work closely with our head of recruitment and our scouts and try to identify parts but let’s see what happens before the last day of the window."
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Thelin will get his first experience of the home Pittodrie dugout tomorrow night and is excited for the challenge that Rhys McCabe's team will bring - having witnessed the Scottish Championship side score 12 goals during their two cup matches to date.
"It is going to be really nice to play at home for the first time and get the feeling of that and meet the support that is there," Thelin stated.
"I am looking forward to it. It is really exciting for myself and the rest of the staff. We have to play the games and get used to the rhythm. Hopefully it is going to be a good evening.
"What we have seen so far of Airdrieonians, they have the same coach as last season and how they perform and how they attack, they have scored five goals.
"They have a strong team spirit, they came back in the last game to win that game, it was important for them.
"How they attack, they have a lot of overloads in the central areas, they are doing really, really well so it’s going to be a tough game but we need to be ready and also do our things really, really sharp to win this game tomorrow."
