Shay Logan will get an Aberdeen farewell after his loan move to Hearts ends at the conclusion of the Championship season.
The 33-year-old could become a permanent member of the Tynecastle squad after a short-term move for the final five matches of the truncated campaign to bolster Robbie Neilson’s defensive options.
The experienced full back has spent almost a decade at the Dons, lifting the League Cup in 2014, but has been used infrequently this season by former manager Derek McInnes.
Certain sections of the Granite City faithful had questioned whether his departure was to avoid butting heads with new player/coach Scott Brown amid the fallout from his support of former Celtic teammate Aleksandar Tonev - who was found guilty of racially abusing Logan in 2014.
But Aberdeen chief executive Dave Cormack said Brown’s impending arrival from Parkhead as new boss Stephen Glass’ number two had nothing to do with his decision to leave the club.
“With the manager moving to a back three at the beginning of the season, both Shay and Ronny Hernandez got very little playing time,” he told a fan Q&A.
“Paul Sheerin made the call before the Dundee United game that others were going to get game time ahead of Shay going forward for the rest of the season.
“Last Sunday night, Hearts called and asked about taking Shay on loan. It was something Shay wanted to do and it’s only five games.
“He’ll be back at Aberdeen for the final few weeks of the season at which point we can rightly thank him and show our appreciation for seven years of tremendous dedication and service to the club.
"That’s the totality of it.”
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