Dundee manager Paul Hartley is ruing the “harsh reality” of Scottish football after losing star striker Kane Hemmings.
Hemmings joined English League One side Oxford United on a three-year deal that left many Dark Blues fans stunned and upset.
The shock at losing the man who scored 25 goals for the club last season has been compounded by denials that there had been a transfer release clause in his contract.
It has now been confirmed by both Hartley and Dens managing director John Nelms that there was indeed a buy-out clause, with sources close to the player putting it at £250,000.
Whatever the ins and outs of the Hemmings’ transfer, it leaves Hartley without his top striker as the dawn of a new season that has started with their likely exit from the Betfred Cup.
He, though, was in philosophical mood.
Hartley said: “I didn’t want Kano to go but there was nothing we could do.
“I’m not privy to players’ contracts because I don’t deal with them but there was a clause in the contract which I have only just found out about.
“Oxford met the clause and there’s nothing we could do.
“That’s the harsh reality of it, you bring players in and there are certain conditions in the contract.
“We wouldn’t have got him if we didn’t have that in his deal.
“I spoke to him and he said he wanted to go back down the road.
“The deal was good for him and there was nothing we could do.
“He didn’t cost us anything last year and we’ve had to sell him.
“I didn’t want to sell him and I can understand the frustration of the supporters.
“I think he’d already made his mind up.
“I spoke to him on Tuesday and he told me he wanted to try England again.
“He’d had an experience which didn’t work out but this time it was too good a deal for him to turn down.
“I wish him all the best and I really hope he does well because he was terrific for us last season.”
Hartley’s immediate challenge is somehow unearthing a player to replace Hemmings.
“I just have to find someone who can score me 25 goals a season now,” said a rueful Dundee boss.
“The good thing is that it has happened now rather than at the end of August because it gives me a bit of time to get someone in.
“We will try to strengthen the squad.
“I still feel we’re two or three players short of where we want to be.”
Hartley is also faced with the serious threat of Greg Stewart following Hemmings out the door, with Birmingham City the latest club to be linked with him.
Once again, the boss was in philosophical mood.
He said: “The harsh reality of Scottish football is that all the top teams have to sell their top players.
“We don’t want to sell Greg but sometimes there’s not a lot you can do.
“The players have ambition, too, and you have to think about them – that’s the way it is.
“We want to keep Greg but he has ambition also.
“There have been no bids at this stage but he has started the season with four goals in two matches so will it hot up? It might.
“He has been terrific for us over the last two years but my job is to find another Greg Stewart or Kane Hemmings.
“We will just have to see where we are at the end of the window.
“If nobody wanted our players then we wouldn’t be doing it right, but people do and that shows we are doing something right.
“We have picked out some good players, made them better.
“Players come and go, that’s common knowledge, and I know the financial constraints at a football club.
“You have to deal with it, you don’t want to lose your best players but that’s life.”
