Duk has opened up on going AWOL in order to force an Aberdeen exit last summer and admits he jumped at the chance to join Leganes on deadline day.
The former Benfica youngster sealed a £4000,000 switch to the La Liga club in the dying minutes of the January transfer window, bringing his two and a half year stay at Pittodrie to an end. Duk tried to engineer a move away from the Dons last summer after failing to report back to pre-season training under new manager Jimmy Thelin, losing a lot of love with supporters who had previously adored him in the Granite City.
The forward was slowly brought back into the fold by the Swede and scored his only goals of the season by grabbing a brace in a 3-0 victory against Elgin City in the Scottish Cup last month. After being unveiled as a Leganes player on Friday alongside fellow newboy and former Rangers rival Borna Barisic, Duk was asked about his antics at Pittodrie last summer and responded: “I prefer not to speak about that. I wouldn’t say it was a bad moment but me, my agent and Aberdeen had a little bit of an argument.”
Leganes had been keeping tabs on the Cape Verde international in the last 12 months and their new man says the decision to move to Spain was a no brainer. The 24-year-old also insists he is not coming in as a direct replacement for ex Ajax and West Ham frontman Sebastian Haller, who cut short his loan with Leganes from Borussia Dormund to rejoin former club FC Utrecht.
He added: “‘I want to thank Leganés for giving me this opportunity. I am here to fulfil its objectives and help the club in whatever way is needed. Duk is my father’s nickname and now it is also mine. I understand Spanish well and I speak it a little. (Borna) Barišić is a great player, I’m very happy to be able to play with him. He’s not only a good defender, but he also contributes in attack.
“Haller is a great player, but I’m not here to replace him, we’re different players, I’m here to help the team in any of the positions I play. When a club like Leganés that plays in La Liga asks about you, it’s very easy to say yes, they’ve shown interest in me for a long time’ concluded the striker.”