Jesper Karlsson: Who is the new Aberdeen winger exciting the Pittodrie faithful?

Aberdeen fans are hoping they have a new hero in their ranks after the club pulled off one of the most eye-catching signings of transfer deadline day.

Sweden international winger Jesper Karlsson was announced late on Monday night as he was reunited with his former manager, Jimmy Thelin.

The 27-year-old has moved to Scotland on loan from Serie A side Bologna, and Dons are excited about the prospect of him lifting them out of their current slump.

With three defeats from three in the league, and being knocked out of the Europa League at the play-off stage, last season’s cup winners were needing a boost.

And, alongside fellow deadline day buy Kevin Nisbet, Karlsson could be the tonic to get them back on track ahead of their Conference League campaign and to get them climbing back up the table.

Karlsson played under Thelin at Elfsborg before a string of impressive performances earned him a move to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for more than £2m in 2020.

After hitting 35 goals in 89 Eredivisie appearances, Bologna paid close to £10m for the wide man just two years ago.

However, he found regular starts harder to come by at Bologna and spent the second half of last season on loan at fellow Serie A side Lecce.

He has now sought a familiar manager to help rejuvenate his career.

At the international level, he has made 14 appearances for the Sweden national team, scoring five goals, since making his debut in 2020.

He scored his first goal for his country in a 5-0 win over Azerbaijan in qualifying for Euro 2024, before netting back-to-back doubles against New Zealand and Moldova.