Reported Celtic target Scott McKenna hailed by Aberdeen teammate Lewis Ferguson

Follow us on Google Discover

The Dons ace was reportedly on the Hoops’ radar over the summer and handed in a transfer request to his club.

Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson has praised teammate and reported Celtic summer target Scott McKenna for continuing to put in top-notch performances for the Scottish Premiership club amid his failure to secure a move away from Pittodrie following his transfer request (Herald Scotland).

McKenna is widely regarded as one of the most highly rated prospects in the Scottish game, with 87 senior club appearances under his belt aged just 22 (Transfermarkt), and even captaining the Scotland national team in only his fourth appearance.

As was reported by multiple media outlets including BBC Sport, McKenna handed in a transfer request at the start of August, but he remains on the Dons’ books following the closure of the English and subsequently the European transfer windows, the Bristol Post having reported that the Hoops were still keeping an eye on the defender.

Ferguson acknowledged that some players may have seen their performances dip in the wake of a failure to secure a move away but there has been no such issue with McKenna, who has featured plentifully for Aberdeen in a busy start to 2019-20, with games in the Europa League, Scottish League Cup and Scottish Premiership coming thick and fast.

“He’s been different class for us,” Ferguson told Herald Scotland. “It’s a big boost for us that he’s staying because there was a lot of interest in him. He’s been playing week in, week out for Aberdeen and for Scotland so there was no doubt he would attract interest.

“It was up to him and the club. There was a transfer request, but you didn’t see that in his performances. Maybe if someone else put in a transfer request, their performances might have dipped, but he kept going and gave everything and that’s all we could have asked for. It’s not up to us whether he wanted to go or wanted to stay. The only thing that mattered was him putting 100 per cent in and he did that.”

McKenna, who is contracted to Aberdeen until the summer of 2023 and is reportedly valued at £7million by the club (Daily Record), has made 10 appearances for Derek McInnes’ side this season (Transfermarkt) but is currently sidelined and nursing a hamstring injury.