Graeme Shinnie’s permanent switch to Aberdeen could be affected by a transfer embargo on Wigan Athletic.
The 31-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Pittodrie.
Aberdonian Shinnie captained the Dons to a third-placed Premiership finish and European qualification.
Dons boss Barry Robson wants to sign Shinnie on a permanent deal and Wigan, recently relegated to English League One, are open to that switch.
Shinnie has one year left on his Wigan contract and it is understood it would take a six-figure sum for the Dons to land him on a permanent deal this summer.
However, Wigan Athletic have been placed under an imminent transfer embargo by the English Football League due to HMRC-related matters.
The transfer embargo emerged from the EFL’s AGM on Thursday, where clubs voted to approve several changes to the regulations that will come into effect immediately.
The EFL’s new ’30-Day Rule’
One change is the new “30-Day Rule” where clubs that accumulate 30 days of late payments in a 12-month period will be unable to sign a player for a fee for three full transfer windows.
Wigan will start next season in League One with an eight-point deduction, which may yet increase due to the continued non-payment of wages.
However, Wigan now have 30 days from Thursday to fix their HMRC financial problems and avoid being hit with the transfer embargo.
Any deal for Shinnie could be in limbo until that situation is rectified.
Wigan Athletic manager Shaun Maloney and the club’s hierarchy could be unlikely to sanction a deal for Shinnie until they know whether or not they can sign players.
Club owner Abdulrahman Al Jasmi pledged on Monday to settle the rest of the outstanding wage payments by the end of the week.
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