During the summer, Aberdeen completed the signing of teenage Manchester City striker Joe Nuttall on a two year deal. The 18-year-old, a product of the English club’s youth academy, impressed during a spell training with the Dons at the end of last season.

During pre-season, Joe suffered a slight injury setback, but made his debut for the U20s against Dundee United on the 1st of September. He scored his first goal in the Youth Cup win over Fraserburgh at Pittodrie and followed that up with another strike in the impressive win on Inverness.

Wearing the number 9 jersey for the youth team, he follows in the footsteps of Mitch Megginson, Declan McManus and Lawrence Shankland. These are early days in his Aberdeen career but Joe has already shown plenty of signs that the Dons have another promising young striker on their hands.

Recently, he spoke to RedMatchday.

“I’m really looking forward to what will be an exciting project ahead. Coming to Aberdeen is a big change for me but since I have been here, I have really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to the challenge and hopefully everything goes to plan. I feel I have settled in quickly, which is important. Everyone at the club has made me very welcome, I could not have asked for more.

“I am only 18 and leaving home was difficult, but this is what I want to do. I have wanted to be a footballer all my life. You have to make sacrifices and take whatever opportunities come your way. And it is only a six hour drive – although the first time I drove up and it took slightly longer than I thought!

“I grew up in Bury which is near Manchester and I was a Manchester City fan. I started playing for them when I was seven so I spent 11 years with the club. When I was younger, it was very exciting because you thought you had more of a chance of making it into the first team. Back then, they were not the massive club they are now. But when the money came in, it became a lot more difficult for younger players such as myself.

“It was a very good environment to go into every day. You had top quality coaching and facilities, so it definitely developed me as a player. I would like to go on record and thank everyone at Manchester City for contributing to my development.

“While I was there, I missed a whole season with a back injury, which was very frustrating. That was a whole year missing from my development so I had a bit of catching up to do last season but now I feel like I am back to the way I should be.

“To play in the Premiership or even the Championship in England at a young age is so hard because not many managers are willing to take the risk. I think there are a lot of good young English players who are good enough to play first team football but they are just not being given the chance to show what they can do. It is hard because without getting that experience of first team football, it is difficult to get better.

“When I was at City, the youth team and the first team were very separate so it is nice coming here and having the first team players in the dressing room right next door. It is very different but it is better because you can build up a relationship with the first team players. Then, when you hopefully do get your chance, it is not so daunting. You feel a lot more comfortable in and around them.

“Pre-season at Aberdeen was tough as I had to do one with the first team and the U20s! I was in St Andrews with the first team and then went to Austria with the U20s. It was hard. It was different to anything I had done before but again it was very good experience. It was a bit of a shock to the system at first as the tempo was so much faster than anything I had experienced before in my career. I will admit it was hard to adapt to at first. The standards are extremely high at this club.

“It was good to be with the first team boys as I got to know some of them and I got to meet and know all the coaches. I was able to familiarise myself with the way some of the players play. It also made me realise the level I need to reach if I am going to break into the first team. Then in Austria, I was able to bond with all my new teammates.

“I know the U20s won the league last season. That was a very good achievement. Although this is a new squad with younger players, we still need to try and match the standards the team set last season.”