Aberdeen new boy Alexander Jensen has revealed he sounded out former Reds defender Stefan Gartenmann ahead of his move to Pittodrie – but admits he was already sold on a link up with Jimmy Thelin.
The Danish full back is Thelin’s fourth signing of the window after joining the club from Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna for around £650,000 on Monday, and was immediately thrust into action as a second half substitute in Wednesday’s dismal 3-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox. And the 23-year-old says he got in touch with Gartenmann through mutual friend Nikolas Dyhr, who now plays for Randers in Denmark but was a teammate of the ex Aberdeen man at FC Midtjylland.
He said: “I actually spoke to my friend Nikolas Dyhr who plays for Randers FC now. I asked him if Stefan could tell me something about Aberdeen.
“He spoke very well about the club. Sometimes when you come from abroad you maybe don’t know the size of the club because you are not so well informed about Scotland but he told me that it was a very big club and a bigger club than you think. I’ve already felt that.
“It’s a very big club. I always knew of Aberdeen in Scottish football and really felt that the club wanted me and that I was a priority to them. That’s why it felt good for me to come here.”
Jensen was delighted to get his work permit sorted in time to make his Dons bow against Rangers at Ibrox and enjoyed his first taste of Scottish football. He added: “I was there on Tuesday morning (to get the work permit) before training and they said we’ve got 24 hours.
“So it was good that it came through! It was a very quick but it was a nice way to finish those busy few days. To lose the two late goals was very disappointing. I had a feeling when I came on that there was maybe something we could get from the game but of course we lost those two goals.
“But it was good to come in there and feel the atmosphere and the intensity of the football compared to Sweden. It’s maybe a bit faster so it was good to try that. There are actually some quite big stadiums in Sweden that I’ve played in but I think it’s (Ibrox) is up there.”
Jensen comes into a team shot of confidence following their dismal run of form but is confident that victory against League Two side Elgin City at Borough Briggs in the Scottish Cup on Saturday can kick them back into gear. “It will be a good experience tomorrow”, he stated.
“It’s just football so it doesn’t matter where you are playing, it’s 11v11. I know that the cup is very important to the club to go as far as we can as it’s a good chance to win a trophy. It’s a very important game tomorrow and is a good opportunity to get that winning feeling again inside the club.”