Dons step up Bakens hunt

Defender keen on Scottish switch

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 24th June 2008

Dons step up Bakens hunt

Calderwood: Tracking targets

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood is closing in on a deal to take Tim Bakens to Pittodrie.

The Dons have already made tentative enquiries as to the Dutchman's availability and are expected to return with a formal approach this week.

The RKC Waalwijk defender has spurned the offer of a new contract in his homeland and has admitted that he would welcome a move to Scotland.

"Jimmy Calderwood called me to ask if I would be interested in a move to Aberdeen," Bakens said in the Press and Journal.

"I said I would and he told me he would call me back in a couple of days but I have not heard anything."

Delay

Despite the delay in negotiations, Calderwood has assured Bakens that he remains a top priority.

"I haven't spoken to Tim since our first conversation but I will be in touch with him this week," he said.

"He is a player who came on our radar after we had spoken to some other targets. I told him it was very difficult to say how the talks were progressing, but if he feels he is second choice then that is not the case.

"He is similar in stature to Rob Jones, of Hibernian, but he is a right-sided player and we were looking for someone who could play on the left. However, we haven't ruled him out and I will talk to him again this week."

While holding out hope that he will be able to bolster his squad in the coming days, one man Calderwood is not expecting to be welcoming to Pittodrie is Mark Kerr.

The Dundee United midfielder had been strongly linked with a switch to the Dons, but is believed to favour a move to England.

Interested

"Us signing Mark is news to me," said Calderwood.

"He is a player we were interested in signing but both Willie Miller (director of football) and I were told he was going to England.

"It has been more than two weeks since we heard from Mark or his agent. I am sure it has been a hard decision for him but he can earn a lot more down south, which is why, like so many other players, he wants to try his luck in the Championship."

Calderwood is also facing a quandary over Alan Maybury's contractual situation.

The defender is yet to agree a new deal at the club and looks unlikely to make a decision anytime soon.

"I had hoped to have all the squad together for when we report back to pre-season training next week but it does not look like that will be the case," admitted Calderwood.