Aberdeen have thrown the ball firmly back into Watford’s court in the row over Lewis Ferguson ’s proposed transfer.
The Dons are not looking to sell the midfielder, even though the English Premier League new boys tabled a £1.5million offer last week.
The derisory bid was immediately rejected and fell well below any deal that would even get Aberdeen to the table.
Ferguson is desperate to move to England’s top flight and has put in a transfer request, which has also been rejected.
New boss Stephen Glass views Ferguson as a key player in his new-look side and is keen for him to remain at Pittodrie.
His agent Bill McMurdo told Record Sport yesterday he was fuming the Dons have not set a price.
The Premiership side has refused to give a price because they don’t want to sell.
But what the Pittodrie club have done is reminded the Hornets the fees they have recently paid for some of their current midfield stars, which were far in excess of what was tabled for the Scotland under-21 cap.
They splashed out £8million to land Will Hughes from Derby back in 2017 and that same year paid a similar fee to bring Tom Cleverly from Everton. They have also paid £6 million to land Nathaniel Chalobah from Chelsea.
Aberdeen believe Ferguson has the potential to get to those levels if not higher.
If a deal is to be done then Watford will have to seriously up the ante.
Scottish clubs also know with Brexit they are in a far stronger position because English Premier League clubs are now more limited in the overseas players they can buy.
Glass has already started to strengthen his team with the signing of Scott Brown, Declan Gallagher and Jay Emmanuel Thomas.
They are also in talks with Clark Robertson and have also spoken to Jackson Irvine but if he remains in Scotland he is more likely to resign for Hibs, although he has strong interest from overseas.
Meanwhile, Stephen Gunn has been confirmed as the club’s new director of football. He had previously been head of football operations and he steps up to the new role with the club.
Chief scout Russ Richardson has also departed. He worked closely with Derek McInnes and was involved in the majority of his recruitment.
“I’m very pleased to announce Steven Gunn as our new Director of Football,” said Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack.
“This is a critical role for the club when you think about the sheer quantity of people involved within the football business unit, and Steven will be responsible for all aspects of that.
“It’s all encompassing, we take our duty of care to our people seriously and that will be a crucial element in our director of football remit.
“Russ has moved on and we thank him for everything he has done for the club.
An important task for Steven now is to fill the head of recruitment role.
“In this modern age the use of technology, having a global outlook at player recruitment and taking advantage of collaborations, such as our strategic partnership with Atlanta United, will be fundamental.”
Young midfielder Kevin Hanratty has signed a new three year extension.
