Aberdeen are set to sell Scotland star Scott McKenna to Nottingham Forest for a deal that could eventually hit £5 million and also see the Dons land a hefty sell-on.
The initial deal is around £3 million upfront and is made up of realistic add-ons.
McKenna travelled south for a medical and talks and all goes well he is expected to sign a long-term deal at the City Ground.
The Pittodrie side are also set for a sell-on that could net more than 20 percent of any future sale from the English Championship side.
Manager Derek McInnes doesn’t expect to see any of the money because his board had allowed him to sign Ross McCrorie from Rangers and Tommie Hoban knowing that McKenna would be sold.
The Dons turned down a £7 million offer from Aston Villa two seasons but the transfer market has now collapsed because of COVID-19.
This will help the club to plug a major financial gap caused by a lack of crowds and the recent lockdown.
Most Read
Aberdeen have had to make cuts and this deal helps keep the club in a good financial position.
McInnes explained: “We made succession planning with Ross and Hoban coming in short-term. “We weren’t encouraging bids but we expected bids as soon as the Championship started. “The way he has been and his form you’d need to be living on Mars to not see how he’s been playing. “His stats are right up there in our league. “We were allowed to bring in Tommie and Ross to deal with a McKenna leaving.”
McInnes expects him to smash it in England.
He admitted: “I’m pretty sure they’re close to a fee being agreed and Scott is on his way down south
“I’m pretty sure that’s the way it is and I’d be surprised if it fell through.
“Scott was always going to move at some point. I’d prefer to speak more when it’s concluded but he’s a player with 16 caps and at the age of 23 he’s only going to improve.
He’s not just a good payer, he’s a brilliant person and a great boy and I’ve enjoyed working with him. It’s always a heavy heart when you lose good ones.
Don’t miss
“But he’s one who’s deserving of another opportunity to push on. Wherever he ends up he’ll have a good career as he treats everything properly whether it’s a passing drill or recovery after games.
“Everything is 100 percent and there’s no doubt we’ll miss that player and person and we could have done with him today.”
The loss for Aberdeen was there to see in a horror first half as they gifted three goals to Motherwell.
He frustratingly said: “Certainly when we needed to defend we didn’t, to lose three in 20 minutes.
“Clearly not winning a header in the box will always be an issue. “The first goal Motherwell kept it alive for the penalty kick.
“There wasn’t a lot Marley could do so there was a bit of misfortune.
“The second goal was an uncharacteristic mistake from big Joe. Ash should probably have played the ball forwards and perhaps indicative of where we didn’t react well to the first goal.
“The third goal was offside but it was neither here nor there to the result. The referee and assistant have to be better.
“The third goal was a dagger in the heart because even at 2-0 you have far better opportunity and maybe players believe more.
“All we demanded at half-time was to win the second half and I thought if we had an early goal you never know.”
McInnes stated the best player on the pitch - Allan Campbell -wore a Motherwell strip.
He added: “Campbell came up and plays to win points, we played to play a game of football.
“Campbell encapsulated Motherwell’s performance.
“We needed more Allan Campbell’s in our team today.”