Young defender Dylan Lobban has committed his long-term future to Aberdeen before joining Championship side Dunfermline Athletic on loan.
The 20-year-old Academy graduate has signed a contract extension which will keep him at Pittodrie until the summer of 2029.
Dylan will now join Neil Lennon’s side for the 2026/27 season, with the move viewed by the Dons as an important next step in his development towards establishing himself as a regular in the Aberdeen first team.
“We are delighted that Dylan has extended his contract because he is someone we have earmarked as a potential future mainstay of the Aberdeen first team”, Head Coach Stephen Robinson said.
“He has already made 10 league starts for us and we’ve seen enough to know the potential he has. The next stage for Dylan is to play consistently and experience a full season of senior football at a really strong level.
“That is why it was important for us to extend his contract before this loan. Dylan is very much part of our plans for the future, and we see this move as an investment in his development.
“He’s joining a good club, who were in the Scottish Cup Final last season, with an excellent and experienced manager, and he’ll be playing every week in a very competitive league.
“We need only look at Findlay Marshall and the impact his loan had in accelerating his development and preparing him to come back and establish himself at Aberdeen.
“Dylan has significant potential, allied to a fantastic mindset and attitude. He has all the attributes you want to see in a young player and now he needs regular competitive minutes to continue developing them.
“The experience he’ll gain at Dunfermline will be invaluable and our hope is that when Dylan returns to Aberdeen next summer, he’ll be ready to really stake his claim to become the Club’s starting right-back for years to come.”
An Academy graduate who has been with the Dons since the age of eight, Dylan has progressed through the ranks at Cormack Park and previously gained senior experience during loan spells with Formartine United and Forfar Athletic before spending an impressive season in League One with Cove Rangers.
He made his Aberdeen first-team debut in a 1-0 victory at Rugby Park last October and has since gone on to make a further 20 appearances for the Club, including four in European competition.
A lifelong Dons supporter, Dylan is pleased to have secured his future his boyhood Club.
He said:
“Being contracted until 2029 gives me a lot of security. I can get my head down, work hard and fully focus on my football without worrying about anything else.
“It has been a bit of a mad 12 months. This time last year I was captaining the Development team, I then broke into the first team and got a good run of games. It’s been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but that is football. You have to always keep learning and improving. You must keep fighting and working hard every single day.
“For my continued development I need to be playing games regularly. Hopefully I can go down to Dunfermline and do well and develop as much as I can.
“My heart is 100% at Aberdeen. It always has been. It always will be. My dream is to become an established first team player. I have had a taste of it. I have had some good and bad experiences, which I can learn from, and I know I need to go away and develop so I can come back stronger.”
Everyone at Aberdeen FC wishes Dylan all the best whilst out on loan and look forward to welcoming him back to the club next year.
