The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Dons boss Derek Mcinnes plans to be as creative as possible with squad
ABERDEEN: Pittodrie boss aims to be as creative as possible with his squad
Aberdeen boss Derek Mcinnes has rejected assertions he is flush with money to reinvest in his Aberdeen squad.
He insists he has to be creative with the squad he has and believes any suggestion the Dons have money to throw about are wide of the mark.
Jonny Hayes’ move to Celtic last summer earned the Dons around £1 million, while they also received a transfer fee for Jayden Stockley, who moved to Exeter City, while Niall Mcginn, Ryan Jack, Miles Storey, Ash Taylor and Peter Pawlett all departed on free transfers.
The money received for Hayes and Stockley was reinvested, with Mcinnes spending £400,000 on Stevie May and £150,000 on Celtic midfielder Gary Mackay-steven, while Scott Wright and Scott Mckenna signed new deals.
The Dons allowed Greg Tansey to join Ross County on loan earlier this week, which freed up room in the budget to bring in Manchester City midfielder Chidi Nwakali until the end of the season, while Mcginn has also returned to the club following an unhappy spell in South Korea.
But Mcinnes has warned the Dons supporters not to expect too many more arrivals before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month. He said: “There is no money to spend. “There seems to be this thought there is, but there isn’t.”
He continued: “We got £100,000 for Stockley and good money for Jonny and tried to reinvest that back into the team by being able to re-sign players and bring players to the club.
“But there’s no money to spend. “I’ve never really had money to spend, so I’ll try to be as creative as I can within the squad.”
Keeping the core of his squad together for 2018-19 would be a lift to the Aberdeen boss, who hopes to keep Anthony O’connor at Pittodrie beyond the end of this season, while Iceland international Kari Arnason has expressed his desire to sign a new contract.
That work will be made a lot easier by a positive second half to this season.
Catching Celtic again looks a tall order and Mcinnes believes the Parkhead outfit would see it as a disappointing campaign if they did not record a second treble in a row.
He added: “They (Celtic) should be favourites in every domestic competition – huge favourites. And it’s up to the rest to find a way to stop that and get our own clubs winning something.”
Meanwhile, stepping up to the senior Scotland squad is a burning ambition for 21-year-old Dons defender Scott Mckenna, who made his under-21 debut against the Dutch in September and who has been one of the finds of the season for Mcinnes.
He has missed just one game since the Dons were knocked out of the League Cup by Motherwell in September and has forged promising partnerships with both Kari Arnason and Anthony O’connor.
With five caps for Scot Gemmill’s under-21 side, Mckenna – whose father Ian played for Forfar Athletic and Montrose in the 1990s – feels he has to look ahead and try to force his way into the senior side.
He said: “I’ve got to keep doing what I do and hopefully I can force my way into that scene in the next couple of years or whenever the manager feels the time is right.
“You dream of that when you are younger.
“If you get in the under-19 squad you want to make the 21s.
“Then in the 21s you think about the next step and pushing to the A squad.
“I do know there are a lot of good centre-halves out there.
“John Souttar, Ross Mccrorie and Jack Hendry have done well and there are others in the English Championship playing at a good level.”