Departing Dons striker Sam Cosgrove has thanked Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes for transforming his career.
The 24-year-old, who moved to Pittodrie three years ago in a £30,000 deal from Carlisle United, completed a £2million switch to Birmingham City yesterday.
Cosgrove, who scored 47 goals in 103 appearances for the Dons, said: “It has been a whirlwind few days but as soon as the interest from Birmingham was there it was a no-brainer.
“I’m delighted to get it over the line.
“I came through the Premier League in some good academies but found myself playing non-league football before I got the break at Aberdeen.
“There were testing times and I have hit the lows in football but that has made me more determined to push and do better things.
“Aberdeen was a good stepping stone for me and now I find myself in the Championship at a top-class club in Birmingham.
“As a striker you put the pressure on yourself needing to score and I found myself doing that.
“I had a relatively slow start but once I found my feet I had real success finding the back of the net for a good two seasons.
“A lot of credit for that is down to the manager with the work we did behind the scenes and the team we had.
“It was a good part of my life.
“I’ll miss it. The European games were one of the highlights when I was up there.”