Mark McGhee wants new faces in his squad before Aberdeen make their Europa League bow at the end of the month.

Reda Johnson
Pre-season allows managers and players to make plays for a move. Aberdeen had French defender Reda Johnson with them while in Austria and he could well win a deal. He played in a friendly against 1860 Munich yesterday and manager Mark McGhee planned to consider his options before making a decision on the player. Johnson currently plays for Amiens SC in France's Ligue 2 and, despite being born in Marseille, made his debut for the Benin national team in February. McGhee is looking to strengthen his squad before the Europa League game at the end of the month against either Czech Republic side Sigma Olomouc or Fram Reykjavik of Iceland and Johnson could be an option.

McGhee said: "We are having a look at two or three players out here. One of them is a centre-half who looks very promising and he will get a run out against 1860 Munich. We will then make a final decision, although, at the moment, it's looking really positive. He looks like a good player and he looks like he could benefit Aberdeen. He is a French player, he is 6ft 4in, he is quick and strong, he has fitted in very well with the boys, he has trained very well and he looks very enthusiastic about coming to Scotland."

McGhee is not averse to looking closer to home, with Plymouth duo Jim Paterson and Steve MacLean both still on his radar. Speaking yesterday McGhee went on: "We will get back on Sunday and start to look at other players within the domestic game. Some have been mentioned already, some haven't. We will start to make decisions, we have a deadline of the 24th of this month for signing players who can play in the Europa League and we will make a decision whether to rush any of them through. Beyond that, we will keep looking for players right up until the start of the season and to the closing of the window. I think we have the opportunity to have the likes of Jim Paterson on loan and maybe even Steve MacLean. One of the things I'm doing out here is assessing the players we need, I need to get to know the squad. We've got some really good young players here who have impressed and ought to be given their chance before we block their way by just bringing somebody in for the sake of it. I know the supporters are looking for signings but they've got to trust me to be a little bit patient and wait for the right player at the right time. What I will try to do is strengthen the team, not strengthen the bench, so the quality of player I need to do that has to be better than what I have here, and what I have here are good players."

Aberdeen will play the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Europa League at Pittodrie on 30 July and McGhee is confident about their chances of getting through to the next round. He said: "With the draw, it gives us a chance. I think we are entitled to think that at worst we should be able to get to the next qualifying stage and see who we then draw. But we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We are in it and that's fantastic and we have a draw that favours us. We are training well and building well towards it and we are optimistic."
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