Warning shots were fired yesterday in the middle of vast and sprawling desert, actions and noises that will reverberate far and wide beyond the confines of the obscure complex.
A twenty-five minute taxi ride outside of Dubai where glass and metal combine to pierce thousands of feet into the air, the understated setting for this tale comes beside a discreet training pitch beneath clear blue skies above, just 100 or so yards away from Jebel Ali Shooting Club somewhere not far off Sheikh Zayed Road.
As rounds of ammunition were slugged into barrels and exploded across the range, the noise of the odd pop in the distance didn’t dampen the message of Derek McInnes who did not miss when firing out his intentions not just for the window, but the season and indeed seasons ahead.
The Aberdeen manager and his team only flew in yesterday morning to Dubai International Airport, minus Niall McGinn who has been given leave for some downtime in the United States. But more on him later. The prime topic of discussion revolved around another of his forwards, Jonny Hayes, who trotted off the team bus here just a few minutes later.
The Irishman has become a target of Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock who McInnes revealed got in touch with him about the winger last week, although he did gunned down reports of a £500,000 bid being tabled.
However, he shot from the hip with his statement that none of his players, in particular Hayes, will be going anywhere anytime soon. Especially on the cheap.
“For three-and-a-half years Jonny has been a brilliant performer for me. You guys regularly vote him in the team of the year and you write about him and Jonny is integral for us,” said McInnes. “You never want to deny your players opportunities to move on and better themselves on the financial side of it and I think there will be a time for Jonny and others potentially but the January window isn’t the window where you want to be doing business and losing players.
“We don’t need to lose players, we don’t need to sell our players, but like everything else if an offer comes in that really blows you away then we would look at it like any club would.
“Regardless of if he’s under contract for 18 months or 4 years we would still want to give our players the best opportunities for themselves and their families but certainly during the season we’ve got to really concentrate on what’s right for Aberdeen. I would be more open to players moving in the summer when we have more time to deal with it and not harm our chances of achieving our objectives so in January it’s not welcome at all but I understand that it happens.”
Now, back to McGinn.
It will come as little surprise that interest is being shown in the Northern Ireland internationalist. The only shock really being it has taken four-and-a-half years for the 29-year-old to really come on the radar of other clubs.
McGinn has been heavily linked with a move to Hearts this window, with the Tynecastle club poised to make contact with the former Celtic forward’s agent in the coming days. Again though, McInnes expressed a confidence that he will be staying in Aberdeen along with Hayes, while underlining his belief that if he is going to remain in Scotland, it won’t be away from the Granite City.
“I spoke to Craig Levein last week,” said the Aberdeen manager, another bang going off somewhere in the dusty distance. “He confirmed that he was intending to speak to Niall’s representative. I’m not surprised at that. If Niall McGinn was a Hearts player and I knew he had six months left on his contract I would be interested in taking him to Aberdeen. I am confident. Niall again has shown a real warmth for being at Aberdeen, a club he has served so well for us he has been absolutely fantastic. I would be very surprised if Niall if he chooses to stay in Scotland and it’s not at Aberdeen.”
He added: “It's been ongoing with Niall for a while. We have spoken several times about the potential to extend and he has never written that off.
“He has never said 'no' to us. He just said he would like to look at it in January again. That's what we will do once he comes back.”
While over the last week or so Celtic have been the Scottish representatives in this billionaire’s playground – assuming said billionaire doesn’t gamble or want to drink outside the confines of his Best Western – it is now the team from the north east’s turn to jet out to Dubai, seeking their own little bit of R&R amid the rolling deserts.
Among their number was captain Ryan Jack. The 24-year-old missed two months of the season due to an operation on his knee, with his deal at Pittodrie due to be up at the end of the season. However, McInnes is hopeful the local lad will show the same loyalty the club gave to him by nursing back to health and sign fresh terms.
"It's a difficult question. Because of injuries we'd like Ryan to give us a bit more.
"Ryan could nick a move if his contract runs down. But my view is don't just nick a move, get the contract you deserve.
"I have a high regard for Ryan and if he can have a run at it without being injured he can show it.
"I hope it's with us for the next 18 months. We're not looking at having him here for three or four years, but over the next 18 months I'd like him to be an integral part of what we're doing and then get the move he's capable of getting.”
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