Nuno de Almeida has been promoted to the role of Head of Recruitment having been an integral part of the player recruitment and scouting set-up at Pittodrie for the last six months

The former Rio Ave Sporting Director replaces the departed Chris Badlan.

Commenting on his appointment, de Almeida said: “I am pleased to be given this opportunity to lead the recruitment team at such an historic club. I have enjoyed working within the department over the last six months and I am looking forward to building on the recent positive work.

“My way of working and the approach Aberdeen has taken in recent seasons is completely aligned, and we will work together to identify and recruit exciting talents who can help us deliver our sporting goals on the pitch.”

Nuno started his career at Porto, spending eight years supporting the scouting operations of the First Team and B-Team, with both a domestic and international focus.

It was from there that he had his first opportunity to work with Jimmy Thelin, joining IF Elfsborg in a dual role as an Assistant First Team Coach and Chief Scout from 2018-2019.

Part of his role, which he will match at Aberdeen, was aligning the recruitment of key talents to fit within the developing IF Elfsborg game model and playing philosophy.

Following a spell as Product Manager for Minerva Sports, Nuno joined Rio Ave in his native Portugal as Chief Scout in 2020, before being promoted to Sporting Director the following year where he spent 2.5 years overseeing Rio Ave’s promotion to the Primeira Liga.

After moving on in January 2024, he joined the Qatar Sports League as a senior scout focusing on the identification and evaluation of strikers for the emerging league.

Director of Football, Steven Gunn, said: “Nuno has had a hugely positive impact in his time at Aberdeen thus far, bringing a breadth of experience across multiple player trading markets. He has a clear understanding of our needs as we work to build on our positive start to Jimmy’s leadership of the First Team.

“Nuno has been working with us closely since the summer to identify and progress our player recruitment priorities for the next two transfer windows and that work to strengthen the squad is ongoing.

“We are delighted to be able to strengthen the senior football staff at the club and to have a person of Nuno’s calibre and technical expertise at Aberdeen as we work towards helping Jimmy deliver a winning team on the pitch and build on the trading model which will support future investment into the First Team.

“I would also like to thank Chris Badlan for his effort whilst at Aberdeen and wish him every success in his future career.”

RedTV subscribers can watch an exclusive interview with Nuno de Almeida now.