Jim Goodwin keeps Aberdeen transfer spend in perspective as Dons boss acknowledges 'real world' problems

Jim Goodwin may be splashing the cash at Aberdeen, but he knows the value of money after cutting his teeth in the real world.

The Pittodrie boss has been well backed by chairman Dave Cormack as he set about reshaping the Dons squad following a dismal campaign last season. £1.3million has been spent on new faces so far this summer. Bojan Miovski is the most expensive at £530,000, while Luis ‘Duk” Lopes was a £400,000 acquisition from Benfica. Jayden Richardson, Ylber Ramadani and Cal Roberts were all signed for six figure fees as well.

Calvin Ramsay ’s big move to Liverpool boosted the coffers, no doubt. But the spend still dwarfs anything else laid out by other Premiership clubs outside of Celtic and Rangers. But Goodwin will never take it for granted after a a playing career that saw him play at the highest level in Scotland, but hardly set the Irishman up for life.

“Unfortunately, I never played at the highest level,” Goodwin said. “People think because you played for St Mirren for five years in the Premier League you must be a millionaire. That’s not the way it works unfortunately. I’ve had a decent career and earned a decent living but nowhere near enough to put my feet up at 34 when St Mirren decided I wasn’t good enough to play in the Premier League any more. I had a number of different jobs in the real world as I call it, because believe me football isn’t the real world.”

His favourite was as a delivery driver for Cadbury’s chocolate “The job in the van was probably my favourite,” Goodwin says. “I’m always reluctant to talk about it because people go, ‘Oh, poor you’ but it’s not about that. I loved it. It was an eye- opener. You do what you have to do to earn a living and that’s what it was about for me. I’ve