Jimmy Thelin's Aberdeen transfer masterplan with five key positions identified

The Jimmy Thelin era has kicked off at Pittodrie and Aberdeen fans will be intrigued to see how he starts his tenure in the Granite City.

The Swedish boss is tasked with steering the Reds back up the table, and will now look to crank up the club’s transfer activity and get new faces added for the pre-season return on June 24.

Aberdeen Director of Football Steven Gunn and his scouting staff have been working on multiple targets for the new manager ahead of their Premier Sports Cup group fixtures.

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That started when Thelin was still in post at Elfsborg before he transitioned into the Aberdeen role, and the Dons have still to announce their 23-24 departures but it is looking increasingly likely that Thelin will have a number of big spaces to fill, writes the Daily Record.

No. 1 Kelle Roos is likely to move on after two seasons and Aberdeen will need to bring in another goalkeeper to fight it out with Ross Doohan.

Brentford goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson is a target for the new manager. Thelin worked with him at Elfsborg. He would be keen to take the Iceland international on-loan should the English Premier League side agree to loan him out and then move to Scotland.

Rangers keeper Robby McCrorie is another that the Dons are keen on. He is in the last year of his contract but wants to get back playing to force his way into the Scotland squad.

Thelin will also need to bring in another central defender. Stefan Gartenmann spent last season on-loan from Midtjylland but it is looking increasingly unlikely that will become a permanent arrangement.

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The former Elfsborg boss is known to like big and commanding centre halves and it is more than likely another defender in the mould of Slobodan Rubezic would come into the equation.

Financially, it might not be viable, but you would assume Thelin would ask the question about Celtic’s out-of-favour defender Gustaf Lagerbielke.

He worked with him at Elfsborg before he sold him to the Hoops. He has struggled for game time under Brendan Rodgers and saw his January loan exit blocked because of injury. Would it allow Lagerbielke to revive his career at Aberdeen like Liam Scales did previously.

The likes of freed Wigan Athletic defender Jason Kerr had been of interest to Aberdeen in the past. Aberdeen have shown that when it comes to scouting they are prepared to look far and wide, although they are also aware that having a core of players with British know-how is also important.

They have hit the jackpot with top scorer Bojan Miovski. The North Macedonian international has been a standout and that is a market where the Dons continue to keep a close eye on.

The other two main positions are another midfielder and two wingers to allow Thelin to operate with the same success as he did at Elfsborg. The Dons look likely to lose Connor Barron and have never really filled the Ylber Ramadani defensive midfield role.

The likes of Greg Docherty or Allan Campbell, if they could be persuaded to come back to Scotland, would be the sort of players that Aberdeen are likely to target.

It has been predicted that Thelin will move into the Swedish market but that is unlikely to happen in this summer window. Most of their top players are under contract until the end of the season, if not beyond.

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The Icelandic market is one that Thelin is likely to look to. It offers better value for money. Thelin had Eggert Aron Guomundsson and Andri Baldursson, who Elfsborg have on-loan from Bologna. The midfielder’s loan is up this month. Could he follow Thelin to Scotland?

Valdimarsson was also another from Iceland. Aberdeen are in talks with Junior Hoilett over a new deal but Thelin is known to like his wide players with pace.

It was a great strength of his team to hit on the counter-attack with real speed. Could that also open the door for Shayden Morris to become a more regular contributor at Aberdeen. He has the pace but under Barry Robson his problem was that Aberdeen played with wing backs more than wingers.

Aberdeen could also be looking to add even more if big clubs come calling for Miovski and give the big bucks that would allow Thelin to take his revamp to another level again.