Aberdeen

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United defender Tyler Fredricson is set to remain at Old Trafford for the remainder of the season.

Fredricson has been the subject of significant interest during the current transfer window but has picked up an injury that will prevent him making an immediate move.

League One promotion hopefuls Huddersfield Town and Scottish Premiership outfit Aberdeen were both really keen on the 20-year-old, who started two Premier League games at the end of last season.

Celtic have also inquired about Fredricson during this transfer window.

The Englishman was keen on a short-term move as he has only managed two minutes of action in the Premier League this season, despite being named in 10 matchday squads.

His involvement at senior level has restricted the opportunities to play for United's under-21 side, for whom he has started just three games.

Hoffenheim midfielder Dennis Geiger, 27, will reportedly join Aberdeen on loan. (Kicker - in German), external

Schalke have agreed to sign 23-year-old midfielder Adil Aouchiche, who is on loan at Aberdeen from Sunderland. (Sky Sports News on X), external

Luton Town are linked with a deadline day move for Aberdeen midfielder Leighton Clarkson, 24. (Luton Today), external

Aberdeen "have a lot of good players, but we are not a good team", says midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen. (Record), external

Monday's Scottish gossip

Watch highlights as Kilmarnock defeat Aberdeen 3-0 for a first league win in 17 matches. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your views on Aberdeen's 3-0 defeat against struggling Kilmarnock.

Here's what some of you said:

Kenneth: The apprentice manager Peter Leven should be leaving along with a few of the players that can't play because if they did it would be a first for me. Graeme Shinnie, Dimitar Mitov, Nicky Devlin, Sivert Nilsen, and a few others can go because they wouldn't get a game for Cove Rangers never mind the Highland league. The directors at the club lack direction.

Andy: That was utterly abysmal. The worst performance of the season, so much for the optimism expressed after last week's win. The first 20 minutes summed up Aberdeen's season, second to every ball, poor distribution and Mitov flapping at every opportunity. Shinnie should have been hooked at half-time. Not a single positive can be taken.

Stuart: What can I say, we give Livingston a lesson then Kilmarnock do the same to us. Leven does his best but we need the new manager in as soon as possible. I hope I'm wrong but I'm convinced it will be someone who the fans will say who is he.

Ambo: One of the most pathetic performances I have ever witnessed from an Aberdeen team. The lack of fight is alarming and it needs to be sorted or it's going to turn truly toxic at games. Relegation play-off is a real possibility based on the football displayed here. Soul-destroying season.

Gordon: Just another shambolic performance from Aberdeen right from the start. Far too many basic errors, players struggling to get any time on the ball or do anything with the ball. Killie outfought us all over the park. Really hard to see where we go from here. Shinnie should have been subbed at half-time.

Image source, Getty Images

Hoffenheim midfielder Dennis Geiger, 27, has agreed a loan switch to Aberdeen. (Florian Plettenburg on X), external

German second tier club Schalke are working on a deal to sign Sunderland attacking midfielder Adil Aouchiche, who is currently on loan at Aberdeen and was left out for Saturday's loss to Kilmarnock. (Sky Sports), external

The Sportsound studio answers Rory Loy's question: Should Aberdeen be looking closer to home for a manager?

An inspired Kilmarnock performance against Aberdeen delivered a first victory in 17 Scottish Premiership games and moved them six points clear of the bottom.

What did you make of Aberdeen's performance? How urgently do the club need a manager?

Have your say.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven: "Nowhere near good enough. I thought they won first and second balls, they wanted it more.

"We weren't up for the fight today. That's really disappointing because we said all week it's a tough place to come. You've got to run and fight and we were nowhere near it today.

"It's the season so far. It's been really inconsistent. It's really poor, it's probably the biggest I've seen in terms of away fans. So I apologise to them."

On whether he should have taken captain Graeme Shinnie off at the break given he was on a booking and went on to be sent off.

"Yeah that's my bad, it's on me," he said. "I just thought at the end of the first half we had a bit of momentum and a few chances.

"I thought I would leave it five or ten minutes but it came back to bite us in the bum. I should have done it at half-time."

Leven says he thinks Aberdeen will bring in one more player before Monday's deadline and added Mats Knoester is conscious and they are awaiting further updates on his condition.

St Louis City will pay Aberdeen around £250,000 to land Dante Polvara, who reportedly received a pre-contract offer from Hibernian. (Press & Journal), external

St Louis City paid Aberdeen £150,000 to sign 25-year-old midfielder Dante Polvara. (Sky Sports), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Image source, SNS

Dante Polvara says Aberdeen will always have a "special place" in his heart after the American midfielder sealed a permanent move to MLS side St Louis City.

Polvara, 25, signed for the Dons in 2022 and made 93 appearances for the club, scoring six goals.

He scored in last season's Scottish Cup final shootout victory over Celtic and returns to the USA having come through the New York City academy.

Polvara's Aberdeen contract was due to expire this summer and although he had opportunities to stay in Scottish football, he says the opportunity to be closer to family was too good to refuse.

"I had a good offer to remain at the club, as well as an offer from another Scottish Premiership side, but if I was ever going to stay in Scotland, it would only ever be at Aberdeen," Polvara said.

"My connection with the club and the fans is simply too strong for me to break that bond.

"My girlfriend and I were keen to return home and be closer to our families again, and this was a brilliant opportunity for me that I just couldn't turn down.

"I have really loved my time in Scotland. I've made so many friends and have many great memories, not just of the club but also of the people and the area. It really did become a second home to me.

"I'll miss the place, but it was important to me that Aberdeen were able to get something back for me, given the time and effort they've put into my development.

"I want to thank the club and the staff, both past and present, as well as my current and former team-mates. I gave everything while I was here, and Aberdeen will always have a special place in my heart."

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock could include new winger Nicky Clescenco if international clearance comes through.

Jamie Brandon and Max Stryjek are back in training but neither will be risked, while Djenairo Daniels, Kyle Magennis and Matthew Kennedy will also be absent.

Aberdeen are waiting on Afeez Aremu's visa paperwork to be completed following his move from Kaiserslautern, so the Nigerian midfielder's debut may have to wait.

Defender Jack Milne is suspended after his red card in the win over Livingston, but Liam Morrison, signed on loan from QPR, has been in full training so should be involved.

Goalkeeper Nick Suman (ankle) remains sidelined along with defenders Gavin Molloy and Kristers Tobers (both knee).

Image source, SNS

Interim boss Peter Leven has challenged Aberdeen to keep up their new-found momentum by adding to Kilmarnock's Premiership woes.

The managerless Dons hammered bottom club Livingston 6-2 last weekend to halt their four-game losing league run and follow up the Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers.

Leven takes his squad to Rugby Park on Saturday looking to make it three wins on the bounce.

"It was a good victory, good performance as well, but we have got to build on that," Leven said.

"We can't stand still and say 'oh, it was amazing'. We need to keep working on things, how we can get better and things we need to improve on, but it has been a good week.

"It [Rugby Park] is a tough place to go but we are in a good place right now, so we have just got to build the momentum."

Second-bottom Killie are still searching for a first win under new manager Neil McCann.

Leven, though, wants his squad - which has been bolstered by the signing of Nigerian midfielder Afeez Aremu from Kaiserslautern - fully focused on their own performance as they chase a spot in the top six.

"I have said that every time I have sat here - we need to win every game, it doesn't matter who you are playing against," Leven said.

"That is the standards and the ambitions of this club, so it is an opportunity to get three points and we will look to go and take them."

Aberdeen continue the search for a new permanent boss, having parted company with Jimmy Thelin at the start of January.

Leven, though, will just continue to fulfil his duties until told otherwise by Dons sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.

"It is game-by-game, day-by-day, and let's just focus on that," Leven said.

Interim boss Peter Leven has challenged Aberdeen's on-loan duo Liam Morrison and Lyall Cameron to play well enough to break into Scotland's World Cup squad. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Friday's gossip.

Image source, SNS

• Aberdeen's 6-2 win over Livingston last time out was the first time they scored six-plus goals in a league match since May 2017, when they beat Partick Thistle 6-0. It was more goals than the Dons had netted in their previous seven Scottish Premiership fixtures combined (four).

• Aberdeen have lost each of their last four away league games, after having won four in a row on the road before that. Indeed, since the start of 2025, the Dons have suffered more away defeats than any side in the Scottish Premiership (14).

• Kilmarnock have lost six of their last seven home league games (D1), including each of their last three in a row. Killie last suffered four successive home defeats in the Scottish Premiership in August 2017 under Lee McCulloch, and last did so within a single top-flight campaign in May 2015 under Gary Locke.

• The side playing at home has won 11 of the last 14 Scottish Premiership matches between Kilmarnock and Aberdeen (three away wins), although the Dons did win their last away to Killie 1-0 in October.

• Kilmarnock have lost each of their last three league meetings with Aberdeen, after having won four of their previous five beforehand (L1).

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen striker Kusini Yengi has joined Japanese side Cerezo Osaka on loan until the end of the season.

The 27-year-old joined the Dons on a free transfer in the summer, having spent two years with English outfit Portsmouth.

Yengi has made 10 appearances for Aberdeen this season and has scored one goal.

The forward joins his brother, Tete Yengi, who joined fellow Japanese side FC Machida Zelvia on loan from Livingston earlier this week.

Aberdeen are waiting for a work permit to complete the transfer of 26-year-old midfielder Afeez Aremu for a fee of £250,000 from Kaiserslautern. (Daily Record)

Aberdeen midfielder Dante Polvara left for the United States on Wednesday to complete his transfer to St Louis City. (Larry Henry Jr on X)

Australia striker Kusini Yengi's loan move from Aberdeen to Cerezo Osaka has been held up by a visa application but should be completed before the end of this week. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

Image source, SNS

The lack of a manager hasn't prevented Aberdeen doing plenty of business in the January window.

With sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel at the helm, the Dons have completed loan deals for midfielder Lyall Cameron, striker Toyosi Olusanya and centre-back Liam Morrison, while goalkeeper Per Kristian Bratveit has arrived on an 18-moth contract.

Adding more "resilience" to an underperforming squad was a key target, according to The Times' Scottish football correspondent Michael Grant.

"I think Aberdeen fundamentally wanted to get a bit more British character," Grant told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"A bit more resilience, hence Cameron, Morrison, and Olusanya, who knows the league.

"I think they just wanted players with a bit more physicality and competitiveness about them."

Grant has also been impressed with the efficiency of departures at Pittodrie, with Ester Sokler making a permanent move to Serbian Radnicki 1923 and Jesper Karlsson and Alfie Dorrington having their loans cut short.

"There's been too many players that have really just not contributed at Aberdeen," he added.

"There's been too much deadwood. Guys like Kusini Yengi and Peter Ambrose who just didn't contribute at all.

"Dorrington's away back to Spurs, although he did play well for a while. Sokler's been allowed to leave. Dante Polvara looks like he's on his way to America. And there's still others that I think they would like to ship out.

"You can see how much Aberdeen's sporting director is involved and is shaping the club now because a lot of these deals have his fingerprints all over them

"I also think the manager might not be long in coming either."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland

With Aberdeen's search for a new manager ongoing, Peter Leven will have been delighted to put back-to-back wins together for the first time since October as the Dons enter an intriguing four weeks.

They now face seven matches in 29 days that will shape the rest of their season, starting at Kilmarnock on Saturday.

One of the biggest problems they have had, not just this season, is when a team is on a shocking run - Killie haven't won since 4 October - Aberdeen have been the ideal opponents.

However, the eventual dismantling of Livingston avoided such a curse, despite making heavy weather of it in the first half - the controversial ruling out of Kevin Nisbet's first-half goal that would have made it 2-0 didn't help their cause.

Their inability to defend set-plays continued before a second-half onslaught brought as many goals in 90 minutes as they had done in the previous 990.

Should the Dons have a new man in the dugout come the crucial Scottish Cup fifth-round tie at home to Motherwell next weekend, it will be at the start of a majorly challenging set of fixtures as they try to hunt down sixth-place Falkirk.

The win over Livi included a superb performance from Mitchel Frame at left-back, his first senior club start, and it has the fans wondering why Jimmy Thelin refused to play someone they spent a decent six-figure fee on last summer.

Leven says the position is now Frame's to lose and, with several new arrivals also on the scene and a possible new attacking intent, something positive can still be salvaged from yet another strange season for the club.

The 'Well cup tie looks to be season-defining but first up is a long trip down to Ayrshire where continuing their new-found momentum may well be key with a visit from title-chasing Celtic to come in between.

Kaiserslautern defensive midfielder Afeez Aremu is on the verge of leaving the German second-tier club for Aberdeen amid interest in the 26-year-old from Israel, Poland and Turkey. (Sport.de)

Aberdeen are set to pay a fee of about £250,000 to Kaiserslautern for out-of-favour midfielder Aremu - the same amount they are to receive from St Louis City for Dante Polvara - as the German club aim to recoup a portion of the £350,000 fee they paid three years ago to St Pauli. (Press & Journal)

Aberdeen target Aremu, whose Kaiserslautern contract expires in the summer, is known to Dons sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel from his time at St Pauli. (Dennis Bayer on X)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

If last week's narrow cup win over Raith Rovers was baby steps, then Saturday's thumping of Livingston was Aberdeen breaking into stride, hitting six goals in a game for the first time since 2017.

Defensively we are still laughably incapable of dealing with set-pieces, I have to laugh otherwise I would cry at how we are at the end of January and still conceding soft goals.

Mitchel Frame has firmly put himself in the picture of nailing that left-back slot with a strong showing on his first start. Topi Keskinen showed us his full potential, and look what happens when you service a striker... Kevin Nisbet the beneficiary.

On a cold day it was nice to be warmed up by some fine attacking football that hasn't been seen since dispatching Dundee 4-0 back in October.

Looking ahead to the weekend, it's another excellent opportunity to take three points and apply pressure on the teams above us in the race for the top six.

Baby steps, but steps in the right direction.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

The Aberdeen left-back berth is Mitchel Frame's to lose after his recent performances, says interim manager Peter Leven. (Press and Journal - subscription required), external

Tuesday's Scottish gossip