Aberdeen weigh up move for impending Bournemouth free agent

With a silver medal in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership guaranteed, thoughts at Aberdeen have quickly moved on to bridging the gap to league-winners Celtic through summer signings.

According to the Daily Echo, Bournemouth’s local paper, Derek McInnes is considering a move for Cherries frontman Jayden Stockley.

The striker is out of contract at the end of June and is attracting interest from a number of clubs after a pair of loan spells with League Two sides this term.

A two-goal haul in 12 outings for Portsmouth was followed by a far more successful tally of 10 in 22 with Exeter City in the second half of the campaign.

Naturally, the Grecians are keen to hang on to the 22-year-old and have reportedly offered a couple of contracts in order to do so, but as yet the striker is non-committal.

That gives the Dons a window of opportunity to snare Stockley, who could well be tempted by a title challenge north of the border and the prospect of European football.

10 points ahead of third-place Hearts with two league games to go, the Reds are assured of second place. That finish will land the Pittodrie outfit a spot in the first qualifying round of the Europa League next season, surely a bigger carrot for a potential signing than the bottom tier in England.

McInnes has made a habit of luring new players over from the Football League, with Simon Church, David Goodwillie, Shay Logan and Barry Robson all recent examples.

Not all of those moves have paid off. Goodwillie was shipped out on loan to Ross County this season, while Robson has made just two league starts, but those disappointments were counteracted by impressive campaigns from Church (six goals in 13 games on loan from MK Dons) and Logan.

Stockley will surely be seen as a striker for the future, but if he arrives for free and develops into a solid first-team striker the Dons will make a profit out of his arrival at the very least.

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