Jak Alnwick: Why Aberdeen want St Mirren keeper and how he compares to Joe Lewis

There are raft of Scottish Premiership players out of contract at the end of the season and one of the most interesting is Jak Alnwick.

The St Mirren No.1 has been linked with a move to Aberdeen and there has been reports of a move from Hibs. However, The Scotsman understands the Easter Road side are not in for the Buddies star with both Matt Macey and Kevin Dabrowski under contract for next season.

There is a similar situation at Pittodrie with Joe Lewis and Garry Woods under contract until 2024 and 2023 respectively.

However, Jim Goodwin will want to put his own stamp on his side in the summer and there is little surprise he has been linked with a goalkeeper he brought to Paisley.

St Mirren goalkeeper Jak Alnwick. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Signing the goalkeeper after his Rangers contract expired was a shrewd move, replacing the excellent Vaclav Hladky. Across the past two campaigns Alnwick has been one of, if not the most consistently impressive performer for the Buddies.

He spoke back in February about his future but refused to commit to staying at St Mirren beyond his current deal, admitting “anything could happen”

"We had a little bit of a conversation and know where we stand between me, [manager Stephen Robinson] and the club," he said. “My agent is speaking to Tony Fitzpatrick regularly and we are just monitoring the situation. He knows there’s interest and stuff like that.

"It’s going to be a decision between me, my agent and the club. There’s no pressure, it’s quite relaxed. Lads run out of contract all the time and some move on, others sign a new deal last minute. Anything could happen.”

Joe Lewis is currently Aberdeen's No 1 goalkeeper - but his manager Jim Goodwin knows Alnwick well.

The stats factor

Aberdeen will likely face competition from England, but it is easy to see why exactly they are interested.

Alnwick is a different profile to Joe Lewis. He is a smaller goalkeeper in stature but that is not a hindrance due to his excellent agility and spring. He is very good at shifting across his goal using quick feet and is athletic and powerful, allowing him to get across to shots right in the corner.

An aspect of his goalkeeping which is up there with the very best in Scotland is his use of the feet. Not in terms of passing, but using them to stop shots. He has excellent reactions and using his feet allows him to save shots quickly and at awkward angles.

Matt Macey is battling for Hibs' No 1 spot with Kevin Dabrowski.

Alnwick has been by far the busier of the goalkeepers this season, facing 141 shots, 65 more than Lewis. His save percentage of 72.34 eclipses Lewis' 60.53.

Wyscout have a prevented goals metric, with Alnwick’s sitting at 7.41 across the campaign, while Lewis has a minus figure.

With regards to passing, Alnwick has the lowest success rate (77.4 per cent compared to low 80) but he is on average hitting four longer passes per 90 than Lewis and his average pass length is higher . He is accurate with nearly 70 per cent of his longer passes, which is a better rate than the Aberdeen No 1s.

Whoever lands Alnwick will be getting one of the Premiership's best goalkeepers who has earned that title across the past two seasons.

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