Aberdeen manager issues stance on option-to-buy Preston North End loan man this summer

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin says the club already has a ‘good idea’ of whether they will opt to buy Jeppe Okkels.

The Dane joined the Dons in the January transfer window, on loan from Preston North End. Okkels made the permanent move to Deepdale last summer, from FC Utrecht, for a seven-figure sum. A buy-option, in the region of £1m, has been inserted in the loan agreement with Aberdeen.

Okkels, 25, has made 13 appearances in all competitions for the club with one assist provided. He thought he had opened his account for the Dons in style, against Kilmarnock, only for VAR to rule it offside. The Pittodrie Stadium club have five league matches left, along with a Scottish Cup semi-final versus Hearts.

Thelin worked with Okkels at Swedish club Elfsborg - where the winger excelled. He has consistently backed the Dane to rediscover his best form but the Aberdeen spell looks to have been hit and miss for Okkels, on the whole.

“Let’s see what happens.”

“I think we have a good idea inside the club,” said Thelin, when asked about Aberdeen’s option-to-buy Okkels this summer. “We have good cooperation between all the departments... The recruitment department, the coaching staff and everybody who’s involved in these processes. So we have meetings now, more or less every week, to try to be prepared for the summer. Let’s see what happens.”

Okkels joined Preston in chaotic circumstances with manager Ryan Lowe leaving his role, just one day after the player arrived in England to sign. He made 10 appearances in total for PNE before heading out on loan, with the Dane struggling to make his mark in Paul Heckingbottom’s side.

The same applied to former loan man, Josh Bowler. North End’s boss has continued to operate with wing-backs, albeit in a more fluid system. Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Robbie Brady were ahead of Okkels in the pecking order and Jayden Meghoma then arrived on loan from Brentford, in January.

Time will tell whether Aberdeen make a return move for Okkels, or if the Dane can force his way into the picture at PNE. Heckingbottom has already stated that the Lilywhites will be recruiting to operate with a similar system, with an onus on boosted creativity.

“Yeah, very similar,” said the Preston manager. “Listen, we need more quality 1v1 players, goals at the top end of the pitch... that's what we need. When you're getting the level of consistency in performances that we've had, the frustrating thing for me is the results that have not come from that. I look at those 17 draws and listen, we've been the better team in so many of those.

“But even if I just take 10 of those out and we lose 5 and win 5, we're still on the coattails of the play-offs. We're that far away, but it's the top end of the pitch, it's the creativity, it's the goals. And we need to make sure that we really focus and invest in that area.”

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