Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes insists Scott McKenna is worth more than the £3million Nottingham Forest have paid up front for the defender and has backed the departing Don to prove it in England.
McKenna’s time at Pittodrie officially drew to a close as his now former team-mates touched down in Lisbon for their Europa League third qualifying round match at Sporting Clube de Portugal.
The move could earn the Dons as much as £5million with further payments due depending on McKenna’s progress while Aberdeen will also benefit from a percentage of any future sell-on fee should Forest sell the Scotland international.
The Dons boss is in no doubt McKenna will be a huge success in English football and has backed the player to achieve his goal of playing in the Premier League.
He said: “It is a significant figure in this current climate. Is he worth more? He is worth more.
“And he’ll go and show that. His next move will be for way more than this.
“But it’s good money nonetheless – and much-needed money.
“I am sure he will go down there, establish himself and let people see how good a player he is.
“If he goes and does for Nottingham Forest what he does for us then hopefully someone will want to take him.
“Hopefully that can be with Nottingham Forest, certainly for the add-on side of it.”
While McKenna heads for pastures the income from McKenna’s move could not have been better timed due to the increasing uncertainty about when fans will return to matches in Scotland.
The proposed return to partial crowds next month has been placed on hold despite successful tests at Pittodrie and Victoria Park, home of Ross County, but the rising number of cases has stalled the return of fans and McInnes believes it has left Scottish clubs facing a financial black hole.
He said: “I think we’re dicing with danger, a wee bit, if we don’t get supporters back into stadiums as quickly as possible.
“Financially it’s an issue. Obviously we all know how important it is to Scottish football that fans come through the door.
“We all know that, as a percentage of revenue, it’s huge to Scottish clubs and I do think that trying to find a way to do that is going to be crucial for a lot of the clubs. Every club, to be honest.
“But I do think that, if this continues in this vein and we can’t get supporters back in, we really are putting ourselves under real pressure.”