When Stephen Robinson began reshaping his Aberdeen squad at the start of the summer transfer window, the club’s recruitment team looked well beyond the obvious options in search of fresh faces.
Brad Lyons and Lewis Mayo arrived from Kilmarnock, bringing with them the kind of Scottish Premiership know-how and dependability Robinson wanted. Chris Cadden, signed from Hibs, fitted a similar profile as another player proven in the top flight.
Aberdeen also moved for experience from further afield, bringing in German goalkeeper Marius Muller from Wolfsburg. Daniel Happe was recruited from Leyton Orient to add strength and depth at the heart of the defence.
The summer overhaul did not stop there. Ayoub Mouloua came in from Morocco, Connor Ronan made the switch from Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer, Mitchy Ntelo arrived from Switzerland and Alexander Briedl was signed from Austria.
After a deeply frustrating campaign in which Aberdeen briefly found themselves flirting with relegation before eventually moving clear, Robinson’s approach was clear: strip things back, refresh the group and build again.
For many Aberdeen supporters, however, that idea may feel painfully familiar. Recent summers have too often brought major squad resets, with recruitment mistakes leaving the club searching for answers all over again.
Nesta Guinness-Walker has caught the eye in Stephen Robinson’s Aberdeen side
Even amid such a wide-ranging rebuild, one name in Robinson’s revamped Aberdeen squad was always likely to attract particular attention: Nesta Guinness-Walker.
Certainly, in terms of his backstory, it is one few can match. How many other players in the history of Scottish football can say their great grandfather was one of the most iconic British actors of their generation?
Guinness-Walker is the great grandson of Sir Alec Guinness; the man who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Sir Alec also played Fagin in Oliver Twist as well as starring in The Bridge on the River Kwai.
It is no stretch to say that he was one of the most significant British actors of the 20th century. How do you live up to family lineage like that?
‘It’s usually like that when I first sign for a club (getting asked about his great grandfather),’ said Guinness-Walker when he joined Aberdeen earlier this summer.
Guinness-Walker is the great grandson of Sir Alec Guinness, who played Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars
‘I get swarmed with the questions, but I’m definitely not sick of it. I touched on it when I signed here. It’s not something that, as a family or me as a person, we shy away from.
‘He did amazing things in his career and was a real idol in our family for how successful he was. It’s something you can take inspiration from.
‘I don’t know if I’d say I’m competing with him, but it’s definitely a chance for me to create my own form of legacy in my own way and do something that makes my family proud. It’s something I strive for.’
On the basis of what Guinness-Walker has produced so far in an Aberdeen jersey, the force is definitely with him at Pittodrie.
In the opening weeks of the new season, the 26-year-old left-back has been one of the top performers in Robinson’s new-look side.
His story is one of persistence, an ability to pick himself up from setbacks, and showing the sort of character and attitude required to succeed at the top level.
He was in the academy system with both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as a kid, only to be let go by both clubs.
Where many youngsters lose their way when they fall out of the elite academy system in England, Guinness-Walker dusted himself down and plotted a new path.
Guinness-Walker attacks down the wing during Aberdeen’s League Cup win over Dundee
One which took him initially to play for the Metropolitan Police, before spells with AFC Wimbledon, Reading, Stevenage and Northampton Town, before joining Aberdeen.
That sequence of clubs is the real essence of his story. He could easily have been another hard-luck story tossed aside by the English academy system.
Instead, he knuckled down and got his hands dirty in the English lower leagues, determined to prove he could cut it as a professional footballer.
Across his time with Wimbledon and Northampton, in particular, he had forged a reputation as an attacking full-back capable of influencing games at both ends of the pitch.
Aberdeen are already starting to see the fruits of this. Guinness-Walker has started the season as first-choice at left-back and looks very much at home.
He has been a standout performer. His only blip thus far came in the 2-0 loss to Dundee at Dens Park, although, in fairness, he was not alone that day.
Robinson praised his attitude and character for the manner in which he bounced back when the Dons then exacted revenge and beat Dundee 3-0 in the League Cup the following week.
The family name, perhaps inevitably, remains the detail that catches the wider eye. Sir Alec Guinness moved in the highest circles of theatre and cinema.
His great grandson has proven himself in far less glamorous climes in the lower leagues in England, before making the move north to Scotland.
Aberdeen under Robinson are trying to create a new identity. New personnel, firmer standards, a deliberate effort to make the side harder to play against.
Guinness-Walker fits the pattern and the desired profile. He was not a statement signing.
He is a footballer who has earned the right to be here, who carries a famous surname without being defined by it, and who appears prepared to do the unspectacular work that success in a new league requires.
Guinness-Walker has also played for Reading and Wimbledon
Two league matches and a handful of cup appearances are no foundation for definitive judgment.
But the early signs are encouraging. He looks at ease in the shirt. He looks purposeful. A meeting with Rangers this afternoon offers a marquee fixture to showcase his talents.
All the more so given that Rangers will be wounded on the back of their European humiliation against FK Jablonec on Thursday night.
The Red Army will smell blood. If they can inflict further damage on Derek McInnes and his Rangers team, it would be the surest sign yet that things are on the up at Aberdeen.
In Guinness-Walker, they have a player who looks like he could thrive under the spotlight of one of Scottish football’s most bitter rivalries.
