Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald has stated that Stuart Bannigan will not be leaving the Firhill club during the January transfer window, despite interest from Aberdeen.
Archibald has moved to temper growing uncertainty over the midfielder’s future amid speculation earlier in the week that Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is looking to take the 23-year-old to Pittodrie – either in the January transfer window for a fee or in the summer upon expiry of his contract.
Whilst resigned to losing one of his key players at the end of the campaign, Archibald is adamant that it would take a substantial offer – perhaps as much as £1million – for his club to even consider letting a prized asset leave at this critical juncture.
“He will not be going – it’s as simple as that,” Archibald said.
“It would need to be a huge offer – crazy money – because he has only got four months left and I don’t think anyone would pay crazy money.
“He’s a key part of the way we play and it would send out a bad signal to the rest of the dressing room if you let one of your key players go at such a key stage of the season. We’re only three points off the play-off position and four points from top six so if you have any aspirations you don’t let players go.
“I have not had a conversation with [the board] about it. We have a board meeting in a week or so we will cross that bridge when it comes.
“We want to keep him. We can’t let him go cheap because it sends out the wrong message. If someone comes in with £1million then the decision is taken out of my hands, I’m well aware of that, but we want him here. He has been part of our good run in the last 10 games.
“We will enjoy him while he is here because there is no doubt we will lose him in the summer. We can’t afford to keep him and we will wish him all the best because he is one of the best professionals about.
“I don’t know if he will end up at Aberdeen – I don’t know if there is positive interest – but I do know there will be interest because he is a free agent. Someone highlighted the other day that he is probably one of the top free agents in the country.
“He has aspirations to play as high as he can and we understand that. We could be bitter and say that he came through the ranks and we won’t get any money for him, but the other side of the coin is that we have had four good seasons out of him – and successful ones too.
“We won the league and we have stayed in the Premiership for two seasons and hopefully we will stay in it again.”
Archibald, meanwhile, has also stressed the importance of adding to his squad this month regardless of whether or not Bannigan remains a Partick Thistle player.
He said: “We still need a couple of bodies. We are short this week because Abdul Osman is suspended and Ryan Edwards is still away with Australia.
“We also have a doubt over [Mathias] Pogba who has a hamstring injury so we will be really light on numbers.”
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