A former Pittodrie youth star is making major waves in Dubai having formed City Football Club in the United Arab Emirates.
Overseeing the remarkable rise is Macduff-born Terry Kidd, a Scottish Youth Cup winner with the Dons in 2001.
As director of football and head coach, the 35-year-old has made City one of the fastest rising football academies in the Middle East.
Formed just 18 months ago, the club have already seen players signed by English pro teams and are set to welcome representatives from top clubs in England and the Middle East next month to look at their talent.
Kidd insists it is an untapped market that a club like Aberdeen, who are out in Dubai for a week-long warm-weather training camp, can tap into.
He already has Premier League leaders and recent Champions League finalists Liverpool jetting out to Dubai next month to look at players.
Kidd said: “There is an untapped pool of talent out here in Dubai.
“It is almost a neglected market as it is Dubai and the Middle East.
“There is no radar on this market so there could be the chance to create a niche.
“It would be great to get a club like Aberdeen on board.
“In February I am heading up the Dubai showcase and our club will host it and are sponsoring coaches to come over.
“It will be open to all of the GCC region (Gulf Cooperation Council – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait and Yemen) and is a four-day, elite, high-performance showcase.
“Through my network in the USA and England I also have five English pro club recruitment profiles, coaches and decision-makers, as well as those from six American colleges, all coming into Dubai for a week for a showcase.
“They are Liverpool, Fleetwood Town, Preston, Bolton and Burnley.
“They are high-profile clubs, category one to three, and from the US we have Stanford and other colleges.
“We are taking these coaches out to say here is what is out here.”
The ambitious City Football Club were founded in 2017 and boast only highly-qualified UEFA A and B-licensed coaches recruited from within the UAE and British football.
Ultimately the masterplan is to take the seismic step to turn professional, eventually hoping to take a place in the UAE Pro League.
City’s mandate is to unearth the next generation of professional footballers via elite training by Fifa-approved coaches on a high-performance programme.
Aberdeen-born and raised Max Foster, who moved to Dubai with his parents, recently signed a two-year deal with League Two Mansfield Town.
Kidd said: “In the first year we were delighted and proud where one kid, Max Foster, left our programme and signed a two-year deal at Mansfield Town.
“He is an unbelievable kid. We sent three over to the USA on soccer scholarships, so there are success stories in such a short period of time.
“The kids we have are very determined, hungry and intelligent in the decisions they are making.
“It is up to us to create challenging but available pathways so the next Max Foster can also go and succeed with a trial at a professional club.
“We have three lads at U16 into Preston on a 10-day trial at the end of January.”
City train at state-of-the-art facilities at Al Barsha, Umm Seqeim 3 and Nad Al Sheba.
Having also played for Peterhead, Kidd moved out to Dubai in February 2006.
His affection for first club Aberdeen remains strong.