Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna cannot believe his meteoric rise, can he complete it with a summer move?

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Scotland’s Aberdeen centre-half Scott McKenna has emerged as one of his nation’s finest young talents in the last year and has been a long term target for Hull City.

Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna earned his Scotland debut against Costa Rica on Friday and was one of the major positives for Alex McLeish as Costa Rica ran out 1-0 victors over the Scots at Hampden.

It was only in September last year that McKenna was handed a chance to enjoy a run in the team by Dons boss Derek McInnes and since doing so, the youngster has not looked back.

This season, the 21-year-old has made 26 appearances for Aberdeen in the heart of defence and has developed into one of the finest centre-backs in the Scottish league. His performances were beginning to draw a lot of attention from down south with the likes of Nigel Adkins coming up to watch McKenna in a bid to scout the young talent for Hull City, however, McInnes was quick to reiterate his message that the defender was not for sale.

Earlier this month, McKenna penned a new contract with Aberdeen, extending his deal until 2023, but given his talent, this will not be enough to ward off interest from English clubs for that long.

Speaking on his own progress over the last year to BT Sport, McKenna said: “I have not really thought about it but if you had told me at the start of the season I would have a cap for Scotland, I would never have believed you.

“I wasn’t playing for Aberdeen, wasn’t involved for the 21s. It just all seemed to happen so quickly.”

Centre-back has been an issue for Scotland for a number of years now and, at 21, McKenna has a genuine chance to establish himself as a national team centre-back for the coming decade of football.

Hull City’s interest in the youngster is unlikely to die down, so long as McKenna continues to perform, and the defender could make a fine addition to any club down south, as one of his country’s finest young talents.

It remains to be seen what the summer holds in store, however, given McKenna’s quality, it would be surprising to see him in an Aberdeen shirt beyond the next couple of transfer windows, even with his new contract signed only this month.