Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin confirmed defender Luke Turner was not offered a new deal as he didn’t want to block the path of other young centre-backs.
Turner, 19, has enjoyed a successful season-long loan at Northern Irish side Cliftonville.
A regular first team starter with Cliftonville, he won the League Cup with the Belfast based club in March this year.
Turner was named Northern Ireland Young Player of the Year earlier this week.
However, Turner is out of contract at his Pittodrie parent club at the end of the season and Goodwin has opted not to offer the teen a new deal.
Championship side Nottingham Forest have targeted a free transfer move for the teen and have offered to take him on trial.
Goodwin believes Turner is “a little bit short” of what Aberdeen require in that position.
He said: “We’ve spoken to Luke and his representatives.
“We believe it’s probably in Luke’s best interests because of the players we’ve got coming through.
“Luke has had a really good loan period over in Northern Ireland and has done particularly well.
“However, we just believe it’s a little bit short for what we’re looking at in that area.
“We’ve got another one or two good young centre-backs coming through the system and you’re always wary of blocking that pathway.”
‘These decisions have to be made’
Turner played a key role for Cliftonville in a campaign where they lost out on the Northern Ireland Premiership title by a solitary point.
Goodwin believes it is in Turner’s best interests to sign on permanently with another club.
He said: “It would have been easy to give the young man another year or two and do the same again with him next year.
“But we felt it was right just to give him the opportunity to go and find something a bit more permanent somewhere else.
💬 Luke Turner has paid tribute to the Red Army after being named Young Player of the Year at the NI Football Awards.
➡️ https://t.co/MYdqO8AOhE pic.twitter.com/bpBIRL7rye
— Cliftonville FC (@cliftonvillefc) May 9, 2022
“These decisions have to be made.
“In hindsight, you hope to be proved that they’re the right ones.”