Kid has raised Barr.. now we need to raise his pay
Goodwin backs deal for Celts target Connor
JIM GOODWIN hopes to fight off interest in another of his young Aberdeen stars by handing Connor Barron a new deal.
The Dons boss has already been forced to relinquish wonderkid Calvin Ramsay after owner Dave Cormack was presented with an £8million offer from Liverpool he could not refuse.
But Goodwin fears he may also have to wave goodbye to Ramsay’s Scotland Under-21 team-mate Barron, with Celtic plus Italian pair Bologna and Sassuolo tracking the teenager.
The Irishman insists the 19year-old midfielder deserves a pay bump to match his burgeoning potential.
But he also hopes it might persuade his suitors to look elsewhere as the Dons continue to hold talks with Ipswich over keeper Vaclav Hladky.
Goodwin said: “We’ve got a number of good young players in our squad whose contracts we want to extend.
“Connor is one of them. He had a terrific second half of the season, one of the nominees for (Young) Player of the Year.
“He’s the type of player you want to be building teams around because of his age.
“Based on what he did in the second half of the campaign, there is always going to be speculation.
“Connor is a terrific young talent. He’s still got a hell of a lot of development to do.
“I spoke to him last week and I think Aberdeen, at the moment, is the best place for him to further his development.
“We’d love to get Connor on a better contract. He deserves to be rewarded, he deserves a better financial contract.
“At the same time, we need to protect our assets as well. We want Connor to stay.
“He’s still got two years left on his current deal, so there is no pressure on anybody at the moment. But we just want Connor to know how important we think he is and how much we want him around.”
While Goodwin is bracing himself for bids for Barron, he insists he’s heard nothing after it was claimed Championship club Millwall had made a £1.5m move for Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson.
Confirming the 22-year-old would report for pre-season duty ahead of Monday’s flight to their Spanish pre-season camp, the Pittodrie gaffer added: “I’m not aware of any bid from Millwall at the moment.
“I’m not privy to those conversations.
“I had a good chat with Lewis and said the same thing I said about Calvin.
“Everybody has a valuation. If it’s met, then we’ll have some discussions with the player and his representatives.
“Until that time comes, I’ll be looking forward to having
Lewis Ferguson as part of our squad.” Goodwin has already welcomed back Christian Ramirez from his sunshine break at home in the States.
And he says the bronzed bomber is ready to shine for the Reds this season.
He said: “Christian has come back looking great.
“He’s got a hell of a suntan, so the weather over in California must have been great. He’s back involved and looks as though he’s recharged the batteries and is ready to go.
“The good thing about the signings we’ve made
is we have competition all over the pitch now.
“We have that up front and needed it because last season Christian was the only recognised striker for long parts of the season.
“It’s no coincidence he ran out of steam. “It will be good once we have all of our business done, we will be in a very strong position. We will have strength and quality.” Goodwin has also enjoyed taking a closer look at loan recruit Liam Scales. The defender made most of his appearances for Celtic as a left-back but his Dons boss plans to use the stopper more centrally at Pittodrie. He said: “I tried to get Liam when I was at St Mirren but unfortunately the bid wasn’t accepted by Shamrock. “I always saw him as a leftsided centre back and for me he will be a centre back.”