St Johnstone want record fee for Ali McCann, says chairman Steve Brown
- Published
Ali McCann (left) is one of the St Johnstone players attracting interest after their Scottish Cup triumph
Rival clubs will have to break St Johnstone's transfer record to prise midfielder Ali McCann from the double cup winners, chairman Steve Brown says.
Brown also insists that Callum Davidson, the current manager for whom Blackburn Rovers paid a record £1.75m in 1998, is "happy" at McDiarmid Park.
Saints' chairman admits there has already been interest in the players who won the Scottish and League cups.
"If Ali is going to go, it will be north of that figure," Brown says.
"There's been interest - Ali in particular, a Northern Ireland international. If the right offer comes along and a player wants to leave, which is another thing you have to take into consideration, then we will sell, but it will be at a price we are happy with."
Edinburgh-born 21-year-old McCann was not the only player to impress during Saints' most successful ever season in which they also finished fifth in the Scottish Premiership
Brown explains that it is a balancing act between wanting to continue to improve the squad and looking after the finances of a club that have lost £2m in cash flow during the pandemic.
"We've always tried to live within our means, but we only have 1500 season ticket holders, so that's challenging in itself," he says. "Winning a cup double, you would like to think the people of Perth and beyond would buy a season ticket."
As for Davidson, Brown goes into further detail about last week's suggestion that Davidson is the best manager he has worked with at McDiarmid Park.
"Steve Lomas was a good manager, Tommy Wright was exceptional in his seven years at the club, but Callum has different traits that they didn't have," he explains. "His coaching knowledge and his experiences are just great, his desire to win, he's methodical, but he is such a likeable individual and I think the harmony within the team and squad, that's a huge thing."
'I want to see Callum as Scotland boss'
Brown thinks Davidson, who has had one season as a manager, can "reach the top".
"As a Tartan Army foot soldier, I just hope he will manage the national team," he says. "There is no doubt there will be a lot of attention for what he's done, but Callum is happy where he is - he's still learning, he'll tell you that."
Brown admits he "still can't register" the team's "remarkable" achievements this season.
"It is well known that my dad saved the club 30-odd years ago and he was just making sure that there was a club in Perth and, what we've seen in the last 10 years, nobody could have imagined," he adds.
"It took us 130 years to win one cup, in 2014, and then we've won two in one year. The amount of time, effort, sacrifices, a lot of disappointments along the way, so to get some reward for that effort in 30-odd years, it is difficult to describe it without getting too emotional - it might never be done again."