Kristers Tobers signs for Aberdeen as Jimmy Thelin seals £700k deal for Latvia captain

Latvia captain Kristers Tobers has sealed a £700k move to Aberdeen.

The 24-year-old Grasshoppers defender, who has been capped 37 times by his country, was as one of boss Jimmy Thelin's top January targets as he looks to get the Dons stuttering campaign back on track. After a dream start to life at Pittodrie, Thelin has watched his side fall to fourth in the Premiership table behind Dundee United - after a horror run of just one win in their last 11 games.

And Tobers says he followed his heart to make the move to Scottish football, commenting: “I’m really happy to be here. It’s been great to be at the training ground to meet all the players and I am looking forward to this new challenge. From listening to the manager and the coaching staff it felt like this was the right place to be. I felt in my heart this was the right decision for me. I believe this opportunity will help me to grow, it will help develop me physically, technically and mentally. It’s not easy to move out of your comfortable zone.

“Aberdeen is such a big club in Scotland, even the response to the rumours in recent weeks have been so positive. It is clear they love football but it’s a big responsibility to show them we can win and make them happy and I just want to help the players here try to do that.”

Tobers has inked a three-and-a-half-year contract, subject to UK Visa and immigration formalities, with boss Thelin delighted to get his man after an intense week of negotiations. He said: “We’re really pleased to get this deal for Kristers over the line as we had to fight hard to get him here.

“It’s taken a lot of work behind the scenes over the last few months but he believes in what we are trying to build here and how competitive we want to be