Jota's pal is lighting up the Premiership and it's worth paying attention

By John McGinley

March 4, 2023

Duk, the Aberdeen attacker, continues to impress in the Scottish Premiership with his goal for the Dons tonight helping spark a much-needed win against Dundee United.

Aberdeen were facing recently sacked manager Jim Goodwin in the big match at Tannadice and emerged as 3-1 winners, in part thanks to Duk’s quality pressing, dribbling and skilful finish for the opening effort of the night.

You can see a highlight of the goal embedded below, as uploaded by Sky Sports, with the Cape Verde international cheekily scoring from a superb reversed flick. Yes, the defending is poor, but it’s no one-off for Duk, who is proving to be an explosive force in the top-flight this season.

Jota’s pal Duk is showing off his Benfica education this term

Duk, a former teammate of Celtic star Jota in the Benfica academy, has now scored 13 goals in all competitions for Aberdeen this season. [Transfermarkt]

Whether deployed as a left-sided winger or a central option, he’s been effective across the campaign, to the point that he will surely be attracting attention from bigger clubs. Given the 23-year-old has netted more league goals than anyone at Celtic apart from Kyogo Furuhashi, he should be, anyway! [SPFL]

He’s very fun to watch, even as a neutral, so it’s easy to believe that he and the Celtic winger share a bond. Duk remains friendly with Jota and even spoke back in January about the Bhoys’ favourite giving him advice prior to his move to Aberdeen last summer. [The Daily Record]

One of his coaches at Benfica, meanwhile, told The Daily Record that Jota loved playing with him and that the duo were both fearsome threats for their youth teams. Clearly, that footballing education has served both players well.

Joao Tralhao said: “All the greatest players like Joao Felix and Jota both loved playing with Duk because he is a good teammate and a team player. He works so hard for the team and although he scores goals himself, he also creates space and chances for others. He is so unselfish but is effective at the same time.”

Obviously, there’s far more consideration, thought and scouting that goes into a signing than who they are pals with. Celtic are also stacked with talent. But Duk’s form alone makes him one to watch, at least for us fans.

In other news, Ange Postecoglou addresses James Forrest missing out on Celtic cup final.