St Johnstone: Jason Kerr & Ali McCann depart as replacements arrive
- Published
Ali McCann and Jason Kerr were vital members of St Johnstone's double-winning team
Key players Jason Kerr and Ali McCann have left St Johnstone, while Finland Under-21 striker Eetu Vertainen has arrived on a two-year deal.
The Perth club have also signed centre-back Lars Dendoncker and midfielders Cammy MacPherson and Ali Crawford.
Defender Kerr, who captained Saints to a cup double last season, has signed a three-year deal with English League One side Wigan Athletic.
McCann has joined Championship outfit Preston for a "seven-figure sum".
St Johnstone say with add-ons, the fee for McCann could rise above £1.75m, a club record. The Northern Ireland international has signed a four-year deal with the Deepdale club.
"St Johnstone are a great club," the 21-year-old said.
"I've been there since I was young so it was difficult leaving because they've done so much for me, but an opportunity to move down to a club like this is just too much to pass up."
Vertainen, 22, joins from Finnish club Ilves Tampere, where he netted four times in 14 appearances, having started his career with HJK Helsinki.
"I've been to the European games, and the atmosphere inside McDiarmid Park has been incredible," said Vertainen, whose move is subject to work permit approval.
"The Saints supporters are very special, and the way they back the team is just brilliant. I can't wait to play in front of them."
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Brother of Wolves defender Leander, Dendoncker, 20, moves to St Johnstone from Brighton and is a Belgium youth international who started his career at Club Brugge.
Earlier on Tuesday, Crawford joined on loan from Bolton Wanderers until January.
The 30-year-old has experience of the Scottish Premiership with Hamilton Academical, where he started his career and played more than 250 games.
He moved to Doncaster Rovers in 2018 and switched to Bolton a year later, while he spent the second half of last season on loan at Tranmere Rovers.
And in a late move, St Johnstone captured MacPherson, 22, on a season-long loan from St Mirren.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.