Dons hope to unearth stars from Atlanta link
NEW Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack believes a strategic tie-up with MLS side Atlanta United could uncover the next Alfredo Morelos. A partnership between the two clubs will see Atlanta owners AMB Sports & Entertainment invest £2million in the Pittodrie club, with Cormack ploughing in another £3m when he succeeds Stewart Milne as chairman after next month’s AGM. Reiterating his commitment to raising the cash to build a new £45m state-of-the-art stadium at Kingsford, the Atlanta-based businessman insisted the new investment won’t result in a new financial arms race with Celtic and Rangers. However, Cormack does hope to utilise a partnership with the team who sold Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron to Newcastle United for £21m to explore the South American transfer market in the hope of finding ‘five or six’ alternatives to Rangers’ Colombian striker Morelos. ‘Derek McInnes is involved in the restructuring of the scouting system as it’s all about the sort of players that we need at Aberdeen,’ he
said yesterday. ‘The game’s different here compared to the MLS, so it’s about getting an understanding about what we’re looking for and what Atlanta are looking for. ‘They have amazing access to emerging talent in South America, so they probably know five or six Morelos’s that are hidden there in different leagues. ‘That will be helpful for us, while Derek and his team have been helping them with a centre-half they have been looking at. ‘But this isn’t a takeover as Stewart Milne and I still own over 50 per cent of the club while my investors in Atlanta also have a stake.’ Along with American co-investors Tom Crotty and Roger Lee, Cormack put up the money for the club’s new Kingsford training complex. Seeking the cash to move from Pittodrie by 2023, the Dons chief played down expectations of a new assault on the dominance of the Glasgow clubs while insisting they will live within their means. ‘The challenge we have right now in Scottish football is with Celtic and Rangers upping the game with their investment,’ continued Cormack. ‘One of our fans likened it to an arms race between the two of
them and it’s obviously tough to compete. ‘We’ve increased the playing budget by £1.5m in the last two seasons, which is a lot of money. ‘We think the budget we have there outside of Celtic and Rangers, which is £9m, is by far more than anyone else is spending. ‘We’re not getting involved in an arms race. We’ve done that and everyone else did it and look where it led. It took us 15 years to eliminate the debt. ‘Yes, we will spend money but not significantly more than we can generate. But we think we can generate more income. ‘We set our goal to be at least third in the league each season.
We’re all under pressure. The chairman is, the commercial director is. ‘I had people telling me that none of my businesses would work but we ended up creating $2bn of value between the companies. ‘Not because of me, but because of the people involved in the companies and we are going to give it a real go at Aberdeen. ‘We can’t compete with Celtic spending £60m on wages but we can up our game in terms of getting players here like Funso Ojo and Ryan Hedges. ‘They wouldn’t sign for us until they saw how the training ground was coming along.’ Excited by the prospect of exploring the North and South American scouting markets, McInnes welcomed the news of the partnership, saying: ‘I’ve visited Atlanta United and witnessed first-hand their impressive facilities and approach to matters both on and off the pitch. ‘Having got to know the people from Atlanta, in particular Darren Eales and Carlos Bocanegra, I’m confident that we’ll be working with good people who share similar views on how this relationship can help both clubs going forward. ‘We want to continue to be a competitive force in Scottish football and will now be in a position to further develop our player recruitment strategies.’