Barry Robson has backed Dante Polvara to be a major hit with Aberdeen after the youngster penned a new three-year contract to extend his stay at Pittodrie until 2026.
The 23-year-old, originally from New York, arrived at Pittodrie in January 2022 following a rapid rise through the American college system. His exploits Stateside attracted interest from clubs throughout Europe, even more so after he became the 2021 recipient of the Hermann Trophy awarded to the best college soccer player in the United States.
Polvara's first team appearances were limited in his first full season, mainly off the bench, as he adjusted to life in Scotland. The midfielder returned home in March 2023 to get game time and he joined USL Championship side Charleston Battery on loan.
Following an impressive loan spell in South Carolina, Polvara joined up with the Dons squad during their pre-season training camp in Portugal and has since made a strong impression.
Over the coming months Polvara will look to build on the 17 appearances he has made so far for the Dons and Robson is excited to see his progress.
“Dante has got a real opportunity ahead of him here at the club”, said the Pittodrie manager.
“He’s got two great feet, he’s a good size and he is a real athlete due to his running power. These are all really strong attributes for a young player to have.
“He’s still got improvements to be made in his game but if he continues his positive development as he is then he can go on to become a top player.”
Polvara added: “The manager and the rest of the staff have voiced their belief in me since day one which made this an easy decision.
“I hope to help the team as much as possible and make those who have believed in me throughout this journey so far proud of my development as a player.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here