DEREK McInnes last night refused to rule out the possibility of Aberdeen selling Kenny McLean in January after the midfielder informed him he would not be signing a new contract at Pittodrie.
McInnes is hopeful McLean, who was linked with a move to Rangers during the summer, will stay with his club until his current deal expires at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.
However, he admitted the Ladbrokes Premiership club could cash in on the once-capped Scotland internationalist if they receive a decent offer for him in the January transfer window.
“Kenny unfortunately has indicated that he is going to move on at the end of the season,” he said as he looked ahead to the league game against Celtic this evening.
“I have been pushing for an answer to find out exactly where he is with it and, while it wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, I totally respect it and feel grateful for the fact he has made that decision early. It helps me plan for life without Kenny here.
“That’s football. His contract is up, he is quite within his rights to go and look at something different. While I am disappointed he has come to that decision, I am still looking forward to working with him for the rest of the season.”
Read more: Rangers hit out at Scottish FA after Bruno Alves offered ban and Ryan Bowman escapes punishment
McInnes added: “I have it in my head I am working with him for the rest of the season. But like everything else we can only control things until then. If we get an offer in January then it may well be something we would consider.
“But I am thinking I have Kenny to work with until the end of the season. I am not thinking of replacing him in January. But, again, if we are made an offer it would be considered like everything else.
“We have considered previous offers before and it wasn’t in our interests to do anything. That may well be different in January.”
Meanwhile, McInnes has admitted he is delighted at tying up Scott McKenna and Scott Wright on new contracts and is hopeful of securing Anthony O’Connor’s services.
“We’re delighted with Wright and McKenna,” he said. “Both lads have given an indication of what their capabilities are and we feel they will be more prominent going forward. Hopefully, they can be big players for Aberdeen.
“We are encouraged by the conversation we had with Anthony O’Connor and hope we can get something agreed.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel