Derek McInnes discusses Aston Villa’s bid for Scott McKenna

Follow us on Google Discover

Aston Villa failed to land Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna on Friday.

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has told The Scottish Sun that he simply felt the timing of Aston Villa’s bid for Scott McKenna wasn’t right – even after warning Steve Bruce.

Villa swooped to secure one major deal on Friday afternoon, with Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham arriving before the loan deadline passed.

That deal – along with the arrivals of wingers Anwar El Ghazi and Yannick Bolasie earlier in August – have given manager Steve Bruce a major boost.

However, having lost John Terry over the summer, Bruce clearly felt that he needed another centre back in his ranks, and made a move late in the day.

As reported by The Scottish Sun, Villa offered to take Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna on loan before making the deal permanent for £7million in January.

The 21-year-old has become the top young centre back in Scottish football, and after batting away offers from Swansea City and Celtic earlier this summer, Aberdeen stood firm again.

Villa may well return with a new offer in January, but Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has now discussed the situation, suggesting that the timing just wasn’t right.

McInnes has told The Scottish Sun that Aberdeen couldn’t replace McKenna in five hours, and the figure wasn’t enough anyway, but did reveal that he told Bruce not to leave it until the last minute as Aberdeen wouldn’t do business – but Villa did exactly that, ignoring Aberdeen’s warning.

“The timing just wasn’t right for us,” said McInnes. “It was important we kept him, I had a conversation with Steve Bruce last week and he said they might make a bid. We told them they would have to do it because the later in the window it was the more resistance there would be to it. He is one of the good guys but when I saw my phone ringing from him on Friday there was no chance it would happen.”

“The figure wasn’t enough anyway – but the timing was the bigger factor behind it. We couldn’t replace McKenna with five hours to go, especially with the injuries we have. If an offer comes in in January, next summer or beyond then we would have more time to react to it,” he added.