Scott Allan told Dundee boss James McPake to make an offer for former Hibernian hero Jason Cummings.
The 25-year-old sealed a surprise return to Scottish football after two years at Shrewsbury by agreeing an 18-month deal with the Championship side which will see him resume hostilities with Hearts in a bid to halt his former club’s promotion push.
Hibs midfielder Allan is an ex-teammate of both the striker, who netted more than 70 times in a three year spell with the Easter Road side, and McPake and alerted the Dens Park boss to his availability.
Cummings had been restricted to just 11 league appearances for League One Shrews this season despite earning the side national headlines thanks to his two-goal exploits in the FA Cup against Liverpool last year.
But McPake conceded he had ex-Dee loan star Allan to thank for Cummings joining the Championship side, telling The Courier: “Jason is somebody I have known for the best part of 10 years since he was a kid at Hibs.
“He broke into the first team while I was there. He is a great character and a really good goal-scorer who has gone to England and played for some big clubs.
“I happened to have a conversation with Scott Allan a couple of weeks ago.
“He is good pals with Jason and Scotty just said to me to have a think about him.
“It was weird because he was one who had been on our radar for the summer because we knew his contract was coming up at Shrewsbury and he hasn’t been playing recently.
“So we started making enquiries, spoke to his agent to see if he would be interested and then we had to work really hard to get a deal done that was in line with our wage structure.
“That’s what has held it up and has taken the time. We had to be creative but we got there in the end.”
