Stephen Gleeson Joins the Dons
Aberdeen have made their third summer signing, with the signing of Republic of Ireland international Stephen Gleeson.
The 29 year old joins the Dons after leaving Ipswich Town. Gleeson has also played for Wolves, MK Dons and Birmingham City.
He is the second Irishman to sign for the club, after former League of Ireland star Chris Forrester moved to Aberdeen from Peterborough Utd.
Gleeson said: “When I finally retire and I speak to my kids, if I can tell them I played in Europe, it’d be magnificent,” he said.
“It’s a new challenge, it’s something I’ve never done before.
“I’ve done League One, I’ve done the Championship, never made it to the Premier League, but speaking to people about the club, everyone was positive.
“At the start, I was a bit 50/50, but the more people I talked to and the more I thought about it, it’s an exciting challenge.
“I love a challenge, so it was a no-brainer coming in the end.”
Gleeson will re-kindle his playing career with Adam Rooney at Pittodrie, and admitted he sought Adam’s advice before agreeing to the move north.
“Me and Adam go back 15/16 years,” Gleeson said. “We played together at schoolboy level, we’ve been involved in underage and senior Irish teams.
“I’m my own man, but I did speak to people because it’s a massive change, I’ve never played up here, so I did speak to him.
“It’ll be good to have that friendly face when the squad finally meets up.”
And the new signing is also impressed with Derek McInnes: “He is one of the most impressive managers I’ve ever spoken to over the phone,” he said. “I haven’t met him face to face yet, but we’ve had numerous phone calls.
“The way he sold the club to me, his ambition, everything he wanted to do this year really helped me make the final decision. I think he’ll improve me.
“I knew of the interest two months ago. I watched the final game of the season against Celtic [1-0 win], where they were really impressive.
“Obviously I know about the success when Sir Alex was here and over the last few years they’ve been Celtic’s biggest rivals. I know from speaking to the manager he wants to bridge that gap.”
Derek McInnes commented on Gleeson: ” he is exactly the type of player we wanted for that role”.
“He’s got the qualities to be a very good player, both on and off the pitch, and as a club we’ll be able to give him what he demands of himself,” McInnes added.
“Following the news about Lewis and then Chris a couple of weeks ago, I’m excited to see what these players can bring to the club,” McInnes told Aberdeen’s website.
