EALES VOWS TO MAKE THE DEAL WITH REDS WORK

ATLANTA UNITED president darren eales insists his club’s tie-up with Aberdeen will bring real and meaningful benefit to both of them.

Previous partnerships between the likes Celtic and Santos Laguna, Celtic and Oostende, and Hearts and KBK Kaunas failed to yield much in the way of long-term profit for any of the clubs involved.

After investing £2million into the Premiership club as part of a new £5m package of investment, former Tottenham Hotspur executive director eales insists AMB Sports & entertainment — the parent company of Atlanta — have ‘skin in the game’ and intend to make the relationship work.

‘even in my time at Tottenham and WBA in the Premier League, i have seen the promise and the words before it ends up that the relationship dwindles away after a few months,’ acknowledged eales, who was both director and company secretary at West Brom.

‘One of the reasons we wanted to have skin in the game and have that actual investment in Aberdeen was because we wanted to show commitment. And it actually commits both parties to focus on this being a success.

‘That, for us, was something we wanted to do to acknowledge the fact this will be real and meaningful. We are in this for the long-term. Not just for the short term until it dwindles away.’

As part of Atlanta’s investment, englishman eales will take a seat on the Aberdeen board of directors. identifying ‘synergies’ between the three-year old MLS club and the dons, he sees opportunities on the pitch via shared scouting and off it via shared knowledge on commercial matters.

eales oversaw the development of Atlanta’s $60million training ground in 2017 and spearheaded the move to the club’s world-class 70,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium — also the home of Atlanta Falcons and the venue for last year’s Superbowl.

Aberdeen manager derek Mcinnes has already taken a fact-finding trip to the United States, while former Rangers defender Carlos Bocanegra — now technical director of Atlanta United — took his backroom team to the Granite City last weekend to share ideas.

‘From our perspective, we felt a strategic partnership would help us at Atlanta United both on and off the pitch,’ added eales. ‘We had the idea of looking for the right partner.

‘Aberdeen fit the bill for a few reasons. What’s really important is the culture of the club.’

eales, however, stressed that he sees no reason to interfere, insisting that neither he nor Atlanta United’s billionaire owner Arthur Blank will have operational involvement or day-to-day responsibilities.

A 90-day consultation period will see the clubs study ways in which they can work together in future. insisting it’s co-operation not a takeover, eales ruled out further investment in future.

‘Aberdeen have done a great job here,’ he continued. ‘They can’t compete with Rangers and Celtic in terms of the wage bill, but they are trying to find ways to be ahead of the rest. To get into europe six times in a row under derek is an amazing achievement.

‘We have a scouting network that operates in areas that perhaps don’t match with what Aberdeen has.

‘We feel there are some benefits there where we can share our knowledge and get the idea and understanding of derek and what they are looking for. We are out there looking anyway, so we can use our network in that respect to help Aberdeen.

‘Jon Gallagher is a good example for us of a player coming to Aberdeen and getting meaningful minutes.

‘We put the investment in that we have to show recognition. This isn’t with any view with further investment or a takeover. This is very much a strategic partnership where we feel both clubs can help each other.

‘The investment was vital to show that we are committed. This isn’t just empty words and it’s going to dwindle away. Having that skin in the game is important to show that this is something we’re committed to.’

“We want to show our full commitment to this club”