Elgin City sign former Aberdeen attacking midfielder Jack MacIver on loan from Buckie Thistle with Ryan MacLeman moving in opposite direction to Victoria Park club
A high quality goal creator and setpiece specialist has become Elgin City’s latest signing.
The Borough Briggs club have signed attacking midfielder Jack MacIver on loan from Buckie Thistle for the rest of the season.
City manager Allan Hale worked with the former Aberdeen player when he was on loan at Huntly, and has monitored his progress and his improvement since.
Ex-Ross County midfielder Ryan MacLeman, who has just returned to Elgin’s squad from a long-term injury, has been farmed out to Buckie as part of the deal.
MacIver came through the youth ranks at Aberdeen where he was a regular with their B team.
He was twice loaned out to Huntly before being freed by the Dons and joining Formartine United in a permanent signing. The 21-year-old also had a loan spell at Peterhead.
MacIver signed for Buckie in the summer of 2023 and played a big part in their Highland League title triumph last season alongside current Elgin defender Jack Murray, both also playing against Celtic in the Scottish Cup.
“Jack’s a player that we trust, and a player that brings a lot of quality,” said Hale.
“In the past year alone, he's not far away from 30 assists and he chips in the goals as well.
“He's got that quality, in terms of he can play a pass, his quality from set pieces is really high and as a result of that, he gets a lot of assists.
“He's someone that's been on the radar for a while but the opportunity's never quite been there to get anything done.
“Thankfully, we've managed to find an agreement with Buckie, which we thank Lewis (manager Mackinnon) and the club for, and we will have him for the second half of the season.”
MacIver is a versatile performer who can fit into a number of positions, and he comes straight into City’s squad for tonight’s League 2 match at home to Bonnyrigg Rose.
“He can play centre or he can play wide. I think he's even played up front a couple of times. He's got that flexibility and adaptability.
“He can play in different systems and take on different responsibilities, which is good. He takes accountability, which is important, and he's a good age with decent experience for his age.
“He's really excited to come in and play his part. Hopefully, he can do well, which we're sure that he will and I'm looking forward to working with him again.
“We had him on loan for a year, when he was at Aberdeen and he's a much more improved player now.”
MacLeman recently signed a two-year contract extension with City and having been out for months, asked the Elgin management if a loan deal was possible to give him more game time over the remainder of the campaign.
“When you look at the first half of the season, Ryan’s been injured pretty much completely,” Hale added.
“So when we're having conversations about signing the new contract, he had actually raised the point about going out on loan for the second half of the season, just so he's not missing out on the game time. So it's something that Ryan was keen to do.
“Obviously, with the Jack (MacIver) situation coming in and being able to have that conversation with Buckie, they were interested in Ryan and we were interested in Jack. So we were able to find a mutual agreement there, which was beneficial for everyone.
“It'll put Ryan in good stead in terms of coming back in the pre-season and hitting the ground running next year.”