Jamie McGrath M Aberdeen b.1996

[Eirambler]

Has signed a pre contract with Hibs ahead of a summer move.

[Razors left peg]

Has signed a pre contract with Hibs ahead of a summer move.

I always thought that you could only sign a pre contract agreement with a club outside of the country? Is that a thing of the past or am I remembering it wrong?

[elatedscum]

I always thought that you could only sign a pre contract agreement with a club outside of the country? Is that a thing of the past or am I remembering it wrong?

that's a premier league / football league specific thing afaik...

[Razors left peg]

that's a premier league / football league specific thing afaik...

I must have played too much in the English leagues on Championship manager so :)

[elatedscum]

there's a date in May after which an english club can approach another team's player, it's also the time where an u24 has to be offered an extension, which entitles the club to compensation if he leaves on a free (everton famously lost out on £4m by not offering him an extension in writing by the date, just a verbal offer).

i think it's pretty common in other countries that deals are agreed around this time of year within the league. can remember examples up north, in scotland, germany, spain, italy. i saw this article a month ago which portrayed the north are some kind of outlier but you only have to think about Lewandowski's transfer from Dortmund to Bayern (signed January 4th) to have an obvious example of what's the norm

[pineapple stu]

Bit of a strange move, no? Not sure if it even is sideways.

Looking like SPL is his ceiling.

[Eirambler]

Pre-contracts are common in Scotland anyway. Hibs offered him a four year contract which Aberdeen couldn't match, so he's going to Edinburgh. Not a bad city to move to in fairness.

McGrath is a strange one, has always looked really good in Scotland, hasn't looked out of place in his Ireland caps, yet doesn't seem to be able to hack it at any sort of decent level in England. Have to say as a Hibs fan I'm delighted with the signing though - we usually sign complete crap.

[Olé Olé]

Bit of a strange move, no? Not sure if it even is sideways.

Looking like SPL is his ceiling.

It's a 4 year deal that sees him through until he's almost 33. That might explain it.

[Razors left peg]

It's a 4 year deal that sees him through until he's almost 33. That might explain it.

Exactly this, at this stage of his career he knows hes not going to play for Real Madrid and its about getting job security for few years. Fair play to him

[Eirambler]

McGrath finds himself in an unusual situation at the end of the Scottish season. He has signed a pre-contract at Hibs and will join them this summer from his current club, Aberdeen. Hibs finished third in the league and as things stand will be playing group stage European football next season. So far, so good for Jamie.

However, the one thing that can stop that happening now is if his current club, Aberdeen, who finished down in fifth, beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final next weekend. If that happens they will take the guaranteed group stage spot away from Hibs. McGrath is highly likely to be playing in that game, his last for Aberdeen. Celtic will start as red hot favourites, but there is a possibility that McGrath could end up denying himself a European run if he plays well for Aberdeen next weekend.

[2 Year Contract]

McGrath finds himself in an unusual situation at the end of the Scottish season. He has signed a pre-contract at Hibs and will join them this summer from his current club, Aberdeen. Hibs finished third in the league and as things stand will be playing group stage European football next season. So far, so good for Jamie.

However, the one thing that can stop that happening now is if his current club, Aberdeen, who finished down in fifth, beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final next weekend. If that happens they will take the guaranteed group stage spot away from Hibs. McGrath is highly likely to be playing in that game, his last for Aberdeen. Celtic will start as red hot favourites, but there is a possibility that McGrath could end up denying himself a European run if he plays well for Aberdeen next weekend.

A strange situation for sure but there’s no doubt in my mind he’d rather win the cup this season than play in Europe next season. Trophies are what you look back on at the end of your career before anything else, particularly when you consider he’s played 23 games in Europe already in his career, including group stage football

[Eirambler]

Has been declared "unavailable" on match day with no further reasoning given by Aberdeen. Probably makes sense in the circumstances but it leaves Aberdeen without one of their best players on cup final day.

[Eirambler]

Not sure how he'll feel after that. Not great I suspect.

Didn't get to play in the cup final, which his team won. And now, as a result, his new team Hibs won't get European group stage football next season either. Probably about the worst way he could have won possibly the most significant piece of silverware he'll ever win in his career.