Great to see our clubs not fail as they make sale

SCOTTISH football is finally standing up for itself in the market place. It’s a breath of fresh air.

It was wonderful to see Livingston scrunching up a bid in excess of £1million for Lyndon Dykes and chucking it into a bin somewhere within the McArthur Glen shopping centre.

The same way as Rangers are standing firm over the valuation of Alfredo Morelos.

The way Motherwell held their ground at the start of the year and made sure they got seven-figures from Hull for a kid barely into the Fir Park top team in the shape of James Scott.

The same way Celtic demanded proper dollar for Kieran Tierney and will do the same when it comes time for Odsonne Edouard to leave Glasgow’s East End.

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack was interviewed last week and when it was suggested to him that some clubs south of the border may feel Scottish football is ripe for plucking players on the cheap, he almost took it as a personal insult.

In fact, the phrase he used was “it would be like a red rag to bull” if anyone tried it with his club. Wonderful to hear.

There will be those who will point a finger and say that is hypocritical because he was willing to accept a bid for top scorer Sam Cosgrove which was just over £2m but he outlined some facts which gave some context.

Unlike many clubs who are trying to buy players these days, Guingamp were willing to pay the full transfer fee up front.

At the same time, they were also willing to incorporate a sell-on percentage into the deal.

For a club which, as Cormack pointed out, has developed guys such as Didier Drogba and sold them for fortunes, you can understand why it was acceptable.

But did Cormack push Cosgrove out of the door? No.

Let’s face it, with a £3.8m funding gap to plug at Pittodrie, no one could have blamed the chairman for driving the striker to France himself but he didn’t.

For too long, the best players in this country have been allowed to leave for fees which have not been good enough.

Of course, there is a value for a Scottish Premiership player.

It sticks in the throat in some regard that John McGinn is seen as being worth six times what he left Hibs for now because he operated last term in the EPL at Aston Villa.

That’s the market, fair

It’s fair to say some players have gone south for less than their worth

enough. But it’s also fair enough to say that some players have gone south for less than their worth.

Clubs needed cash and they were too often willing to swallow it.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused mayhem for finances amongst the clubs in this country.

You couldn’t blame anyone for accepting a bid just to get some cash in their account.

It may still happen but the stances that we’re seeing from clubs, such as Livi over Dykes, are hugely encouraging.

Let’s hope they and the rest stand firm and get proper value when their stars go because people shouldn’t think they can take the p**s when it comes to taking players from Scotland.