No player has ever been offered as lucrative a contract with St Johnstone as Stevie May but last season’s top scorer had his heart set on a move to England.
Saints chairman Steve Brown insisted he was left with no real choice other than to sell the club’s prize asset a few days ago, even if it was with a heavy heart.
Football realism dictated that the £800,000 offer from Sheffield Wednesday (and Rotherham) be accepted.
He said: “We made Stevie the offer of a longer term deal, which would have made him the best-paid player in St Johnstone history.
“Taking everything into account, this genuinely is good business for the club.
“Of course we’d have preferred not to be in a position where we had to sell Stevie but the reality is that if you block his way you end up with an unhappy player, you delay it and it causes all sorts of problems within the club, or you take the money now or risk getting precious little in the way of compensation further down the line.
“It’s just the way of the world. Dundee United had to take £750,000 not so long ago for Johnny Russell when he had a year left on his contract. He was a full international when he went to Derby.”
The Russell analogy isn’t the one that Saints fans feeling May has been bought on the cheap by Wednesday were drawing.
They were looking at the prices paid for two other United players this summer Ryan Gauld (more than £2 million) and Andy Robertson (nearer £3 million).
Brown stressed, however, that the comparison is not a fair one.
“I know United have sold Andrew Robertson and Ryan Gauld for big money but they had been prepared to sign long-term deals and they have gone to clubs in the Premier League down south or Portugal,” he said.
“We had no bids from the Premier League but I suspect that’s where Stevie May is going to end up sooner or later.
“I completely relate to the fans’ view. If I am sitting there in the stands, I’m trying to figure out what is going on. Why are we not getting more than this for a striker we have brought through the ranks and who scored 27 goals for us last season?
“That doesn’t happen very often at this club and it was great watching him develop here but I have to work within certain parameters for the benefit of St Johnstone Football Club.
“The bottom line was that Stevie didn’t want to sign another contract here. He wants to play in the Championship so we had to dismiss our previous thoughts and focus on the here and now.
“The player has 10 months left on his contract and it was my duty to get the best deal possible for St Johnstone. There were no other viable options. When it became obvious the player was intent on going, we had to think what was best for the club.
“In an ideal world we’d have been able to keep Stevie May but we don’t live in an ideal world. Now we have to look to the future and life here after Stevie May. And he goes to Sheffield Wednesday with our very best wishes.”
May’s career path has been one long upward curve over the last three years from scoring regularly in the lower leagues with Alloa, then Hamilton, to making his mark in Scotland’s top flight and helping them lift their first Scottish Cup final.
Brown doesn’t envisage that curve changing direction.
He said: “It could well be a stepping stone to the Premier League down south and hopefully it proves to be just that for Stevie. Stevie is young and still developing and that has to be the ultimate goal for him.
“I’d also like to think he is on track for an international cap for Scotland. It’s fair to say we’ve never been a club that gets recognised in that way.
“It was becoming clear that he had enjoyed his time at the club and last season in particular. He has been here since he was 12 but he feels he has to evolve and develop.
“Stevie is a young and ambitious guy like some of the managers we have had here. Guys like Owen Coyle, Derek McInnes and Steve Lomas all headed south. We didn’t stand in their way.
“When it became clear that was what Stevie wanted, we couldn’t stand in his way either. We had sat down and offered him very good terms to extend a contract which is up next summer. Believe me, we did all we could to keep him.
“But the player wants to play in what is arguably a better division.
“Put yourself in his shoes and the next logical step was always going to be a move to England. It is as simple as that.
“The fact is that we can’t compete with offers from the Championship, which is one of the richest leagues in world football.”