Duk to Aberdeen FC transfer was nearly hijacked by Nuno de Almeida as new head of recruitment details miss

Aberdeen’s new head of recruitment Nuno de Almeida admitted he tried to hijack Duk’s move to Pittodrie.

The Portuguese talent spotter, who has a long history with manager Jimmy Thelin, had been an international consultant for the Dons since the summer, but will now take over all transfers in his new role, after Chris Badlan stepped down. De Almeida was previously sporting director at Portuguese side Rio Ave and tried to sign Duk from Benfica back in 2022 but he turned him down for a move to Aberdeen.

He confirmed: “I tried to sign him before for my previous club. In Benfica B, he was doing amazing coming from the bench a lot of the time and scoring a lot of goals in such a small time. When I went to try and bring him in he told me he had a good opportunity abroad and wanted to take that. Now to join the club, seeing him here is very nice.”

Duk earned rave reviews in his first season in Scotland but his relationship soured when he went AWOL to try and force a move in the summer. Thelin has brought him back into the fold and the striker is expected to run down his contract and leave at the end of the season.

De Almeida thinks it will be good to have Duk over the coming weeks, so he can learn and understand what it takes for fellow Portuguese players to come and hit the ground in the Scottish Premiership.

He explained: “It is good for me that he is Portuguese and through him I can understand even better how a Latin player, who comes from the south, feels when he comes to the Premiership. “To see the difference from the education in Portugal and Scotland is very different and you need to be aware of the difference.”

De Almeida’s relationship with Thelin was a major factor in him coming to Aberdeen. They first came across