Teenage Aberdeen midfielder Dean Campbell has put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year extended contract that will see the 18-year-old remaining with the club he has supported all his life until at least the summer of 2023.

A product of the AFC Youth Academy and a graduate of the SFA’s Performance School at Hazlehead, Dean made history in May 2017 when he became the youngest player to play in the Aberdeen FC first team, coming on as a substitute against Celtic aged 16 years one month, having sat an English exam at school earlier in the day.

Dean has made 29 appearances for the Dons to date and his first goal came against Livingston last December. He has made 16 top team appearances this season and was called up to the Scotland Under 21 squad for the first time last month for the European Championships qualifier against Greece, having already been capped at every age group from Under 14 upwards. He was part of the Scotland Under 19 side that defeated Germany a few months ago.

“The new deal wasn’t something I was expecting”, admitted Dean. “But when I heard about the offer to extend my contract, I was very happy to sign to it. I still had a couple of years left on my original deal but the gaffer just pulled me aside one day and said he would like to reward me for my efforts and give me a new one.

“The manger has been huge for my development. He was a central midfielder himself so he has a lot of experience and knowhow in that area. He is always trying to get me to learn from the games that I play in and I am thankful that he does trust me to go and play in games at 18 years of age. You do not see many 18 years olds playing as many games as I have done over the past couple of seasons. The trust that he has shown in me is brilliant and he is always the first person to give me advice, tell me what I have done well, or make me aware of what I should have done better; all to help my development.

“The fact he wanted me to extend my contract was great news and good for my confidence. From there, my agent then got involved and did all the work on it. My mum has not put the rent up yet but I am sure she will try and speak to me about it!

“It’s Christmas come early for me. As a huge Aberdeen fan, and having been with the club for ten years now, it’s an honour and a privilege to play for the team my family and I have supported all our lives.

“I love being at the club. I supported the club and then came through the youth set up, all the way from eight years of age, became the club’s youngest player as well – something I am very proud of – all these factors come into staying here.

“Whether you are at Aberdeen or you are in playing England, it is all about working hard. It’s not easy to be motivated every single day to work hard. But it is something that you have to do, you have to have that focus and determination because you see the rewards at the end if you can become a first team regular.

“You can see the players that come from down south on loan, the likes of James Maddison and Max Lowe in recent years, you can see the drive that they have to make it. That is something we need to take into our games. We need to have the same mentality and attitude.

“With the security of a new deal behind me, I can focus on my football and I will work as hard as I can to try and secure a first team spot. My aim is to kick on and get as much game time as I possibly can between now and the end of the season.

“I’m living the dream at the moment. It was always my ambition to play for Aberdeen growing up. Obviously I watched a lot of games live at the stadium when I was younger. For me to now be a professional here is fantastic for me and my family.

“My dad goes to every game. He’s not really hard on me at all. He’s always encouraging because he knows there are other people who can be hard on me, demanding standards of me, telling me what I can do better. He does not really get into that side of the game. When we win it is always a good occasion because he comes home happy. It’s a very good relationship we have got.

“It does affect me when we lose because I want to win for the fans. I have been there beside them and I know what they are feeling when we win and lose games, the contrasting emotions. There are more highs than lows at this club and when the highs do come, they are a brilliant feeling. Playing for the club you support makes it extra special.

“There is pressure on me but there is pressure on every player at this club to perform at a high standard because there are other players who are able to come in and do a job as well. There is pressure on everyone to keep your place in the team.”

Dean’s decision to sign a new contract shows that he is in it for the long term here at Aberdeen, but he admits that the decision was made that bit easier with the arrival at last of the new training facility.

“Cormack Park was a huge factor to me committing to Aberdeen for a longer period. Coming through the Youth Academy at Aberdeen, I am not used to having our own training facilities at all. I’ve always been going to other team’s training facilities and wondered what it could be like if we had them at Aberdeen. Now I can be out practicing the areas that I need to work on for as long as I like.

“I come in slightly earlier than the other boys. I do a bit of warm up in the gym training so I am normally in for 9am. I go into the gym for half an hour before going for breakfast. The chefs make you what you want for breakfast. We then have prehab with the sports scientists and physios who give you stuff to do before training.

“We are then out for training, for half ten, quarter to eleven and train on average for a couple of hours, maybe longer. We then have lunch and in the afternoon we might have gym sessions or maybe spend some time with the video analysis team. It’s down to you, how long you want to stay but the facility is open till 9 at night so you can stay as long as want and do extra. That will really benefit the young players at the club because they can go out and work as much as they can on their game.

“A lot of the young players I play with at international level take it for granted. They have always had training pitches when coming through their youth academies but for me, I have trained at many different places down the years. I have never had the chance to stay and work on my game in my own time. We all now have the opportunity to be that player who stays behind longer than everyone else. Hopefully that will help take me to the top level.

“The main thing over the next few years is to cement a starting place in the team. At the moment I am in and out, playing in some games and not others. I need to build that consistency of performance.

“The challenge for me will be to play when Funso and Craig return. They are top players who have played at a really high level and obviously when they are back, they are likely to play. It is down to me to show what I can do. If I can compete, then I must be doing something right. They are both brilliant players. I am looking forward to the competition because hopefully it will take my game onto the next level as well.

“I’m relatively happy with the season far. I feel I have contributed and I have played a lot of minutes. I have played in some big games, had some good moments and some poor moments, which is all part of the learning process. The more I play, the more I will learn.

“You do need to have negative experiences in some cases. You’re not going to go out and win 4-0 every week and play really well. As strange as it may sound, a defeat and a bad performance can help you because it motivates you to work harder and not be in that situation again.

“Early in my career I only seemed to play against Celtic or Rangers and I did quite well in these games! I played against Celtic on the final day of the season when we got the 1-0 win to claim second spot in the league and then there were the memorable wins at Ibrox last season.”

Big occasions they might have been but nothing outstrips his debut when he became our youngest ever player, aged 16 years, 1 month, 23 days, breaking a record previously held by Jack Grimmer. Earlier that same day, he sat an English exam at his school, Hazlehead Academy.

“It was a crazy day. I knew that I was in the squad that evening so it was a distraction, but thankfully I was able to concentrate enough to get an A pass.

“I am very proud to be the youngest player to have played for Aberdeen. I was concerned on the first day of the season when Calvin Ramsay came into the squad for the Hearts game! It is credit to Calvin who did really well when he trained with the first team.

“He was rewarded with his place on the bench, but I knew it was only a couple of days after his 16th birthday, so if he came on he would have stolen my record for being the youngest ever player! I admit to giving him a little kick in the warm up so he would not achieve that feat! I was very pleased at the end of the game with

Ryan scoring the late winner and Calvin not getting on!

“All joking a side, I would not have cared (too much!) if he came on because the more young players that come through the Academy, the better for the club. I’m happy to see all the boys come in and do well and we have a lot of good players in the development squad at the moment. The U18s are also a good group and they are having a very good season.”

Dean has left the Under 18s behind now and his focus is on the future and the Aberdeen first team. What are the his aims?

“I do think that people forget that I am still only 18 years old. I have got a lot of developing to do and I know that myself. That’s physically and technically. The manager and I talk all the time about the strengths and weakness of my game. I feel I will develop with age and also my stature and physique will improve as I get older, but I am doing as much as I can at the moment so I can compete with the first team players in terms of that.

“Defensively I need to work on recognising danger and dealing with danger. Just stuff like that. I feel that when I go on the pitch that I am able to compete when I am on the ball. I feel that I can get us playing, I can do well in that sense. It is just about knowing the times to be smart with my defensive work and maybe take the odd foul here and there and know when to make tackles.

“As a club, hopefully we can win a few trophies. That is always the aim at Aberdeen. We know that Celtic and Rangers are financially much bigger but we feel that on any given day that we can beat them, so the cup competitions have to be our priority and we will be looking to win some in the next few years.”