Aberdeen’s hopes of signing Caley Thistle midfielder Greg Tansey for £200,000 on transfer deadline day were scuppered in controversial circumstances by the Highland club’s directors.
The 27-year-old former Stevenage player, who is in his second spell with Inverness, signed a new contract in January 2015 to extend his stay at the club until the summer of 2017 but had a buyout clause inserted.
Aberdeen met that valuation with a formal offer but Caley Thistle directors last night refused to agree the move, claiming the wording in the contract was ambiguous.
Tansey, pictured, and his representatives were furious and the threat of legal action cannot be discounted.
Neither club was prepared to comment on the failed transfer but the Dons are likely to raise the matter with the SPFL board, of which Dons chief executive Duncan Fraser is a member, at its next meeting. Tansey is in his second spell with Caley Jags, having initially left to join Stevenage in 2012 just a year after joining from Stockport County.
He returned to Inverness just 18 months later however, becoming manager John Hughes’ first signing for the club in January 2014 after succeeding Terry Butcher.
He played a pivotal role in Caley Thistle’s success last season, playing 42 games and helping the Highlanders win the Scottish Cup and qualify for Europe for the first time. He was rewarded with a new contract until 2017 last January, but it included a release clause which the Dons were prepared to meet.
However, despite Aberdeen’s bid Inverness insisted they were under no obligation to sell Tansey and the window closed at midnight with the Englishman still an Inverness player.