Dilan Markanday has made it two consecutive January moves in two years, as he has temporarily departed Blackburn Rovers and swapped the freezing cold of East Lancashire for the freezing cold of the Granite City of Aberdeen, on a loan deal until the end of 2022-23.
The 21-year-old attacker, who has only made one Championship appearance this season – which came off the bench in the 4-0 defeat to Rotherham United* – has headed up north to try and gain the much needed first-team experience that will set him in good stead in the future of his playing career.
Markanday, who is off British-Asian descent, joined Rovers in a three-and-a-half-year deal in January 2022 worth around £500,000 after departing Premier League side, Tottenham Hotspur after spending most of his youth in the North London club’s youth academy.
The attacker, who is capable of both playing down the middle or off the wings, burst onto the scene at youth level for the Premier League’s youth side, only made one senior appearance for the London club before departing, which came off the bench in the 2021-22 European Conference League, in a 1-0 defeat in the Netherlands against Vitesse Arnheim.
Before signing on the dotted line with Rovers, Markanday netted a total of 35 goals, alongside 21 assists for Tottenham’s under-18s and under-21s, which is what caught the eyes of the Blues’ scouting department under previous boss, Tony Mowbray.
After a bright cameo on his Rovers in a 2-0 away defeat at Hull City, Markanday suffered a hamstring injury against the Tigers which set him back for around five months, which sidelined him until the final day of the campaign, which saw him round off a frustrating campaign by coming off the bench in Rovers’ 2-1 final day victory against Birmingham City, in Tony Mowbray’s final game.
Markanday will head up north to join the Dons – currently 7th in the Scottish Premier League – and will join up with the former Scottish champions, who are manageress after recently parting company with their manager, Jim Goodwin, following four consecutive defeats, including a 1-0 loss in the Scottish Cup Fourth Round to Sixth Tier side, Darvel, and a 6-0 demolishing by Hibernian.
The forward will be hoping to add a spark for the Scottish Premier League’s attack during the second-half of the campaign that remains, as Aberdeen look to bounce back after a poor first-half of the campaign.
See you in the summer, Dilan!
