Callum Davidson insists St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown is right to demand a record-breaking fee for Ali McCann.
The Perth chairman has warned Celtic and other clubs eyeing-up his star midfielder that they’ll have to smash the Perth transfer record to prize him away from McDiarmid Park.
That record still stands at the £1.75 million Blackburn Rovers shelled out 23 years ago for Callum Davidson.
And Davidson is behind his chairman’s record-breaking assessment.
The Perth boss joked: “The chairman is talking about a new club record fee for Ali but £1.74 million is fine by me!
“But seriously, when you look at what other players are going for, the chairman is quite right to be looking to break the club record.
“Ali is right up there with the best of them.
“He has been outstanding for us this season, playing in a couple of different roles for me.
“He is a quality player and he has performed in big games for us.
“Ali has been a massive part of us winning the Cup Double.
“He has been a real standout for us this season, along with a couple of others.
“Ali has managed to keep players like Craig Bryson, Murray Davidson and Liam Craig out of the team.
“These are all top-quality players that I trust completely. For him to be able to do that says so much about him.
“Ali is still a young man learning his trade.
“But he has shown he is a quick learner. He understands the game.
“It has been his first full season and I’ve been really pleased with Ali.”
McCann turned in another five-star performance in the 1-0 Hampden final win over Hibs.
Davidson said: “Having had Covid-19 before the final obviously wasn’t ideal.
“But Ali was very impressive again. He got stronger as the game went on. That shows his character.
“People talk about his athleticism and that’s certainly one of his qualities.
“But for me it is his understanding of the game and what he has to do in any given situation that is impressive.
“He had to be more disciplined at times and showed that side to his game against St Mirren in the semi-final.
“But he can also use his energy in a box-to-box role.
“Hopefully he doesn’t go over the summer.
“But if he does, he will be going on to bigger and better things and we’d wish him luck.
“We will see what happens over the summer.
“Ali has got a couple of games for Northern Ireland coming up then he will get a well-deserved break.”
Meanwhile, Davidson has lined up a challenge game with former club Preston North End in the countdown to Europe.
The Saints boss is hoping Perth fans have a chance to hail their cup double winning heroes at McDiarmid Park at the July 13 match.
He said: “Hopefully we can get supporters through the door to watch it.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out.
“I have a good relationship with Preston and it’s good to have one pre-season game arranged early.”
