Graeme Shinnie: Aberdeen sign former captain on loan from Wigan | Football News

January 5, 2023 admin

Aberdeen have signed former captain Graeme Shinnie on loan from Wigan Athletic until the end of the season.

The 31-year-old joined the Latics last January and helped Wigan seal a return to the Sky Bet Championship last season as League One champions.

Shinnie, who had made 20 appearances in all competitions this season, returns to Pittodrie where he first joined in 2015 under Derek McInnes.

The midfielder, who has six caps for Scotland, was then made captain in 2017 and went on to play in three cup finals before joining Derby County.

Dons manager Jim Goodwin said: “Graeme is a player who knows the club well, he is aware of the level of expectation here and despite being away from Pittodrie for a few years he obviously still has close connections with the place and a number of the staff.

“He has great leadership qualities and will bring a wealth of experience to the squad.

“We look forward to working with him in the coming months.”

Pressure mounting on Goodwin

Aberdeen are without a win in their last five matches and are now five points behind third-placed Hearts.

Despite a largely dominant display, they could not unlock bottom-of-the-table Ross County in their last match as the pressure mounted on manager Goodwin.

“Jim Goodwin will know you don’t get any time in this game now, particularly with overseas owners as they’re quite happy to pull the trigger quite early,” former Celtic and Dundee United defender Mark Wilson said.

“Jim Goodwin hasn’t won in five games. Only a few weeks ago when they were beating Rangers 2-1 and they were sitting in third place the season looked so different for them.

“They then lose those two late goals (to Rangers) then follow it up with a bad performance against St Mirren then on Monday against Ross County all of a sudden it doesn’t look so good and the pressure quickly mounts.”

Follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

Who will be on the move this winter? The January transfer window closes at midnight in Scotland on Tuesday January 31, 2023.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports’ digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.