Winger’s decision disappoints Brown

The 22-year-old’s Dons contract expired in the summer and he turned down the opportunity to stay on, indicating his desire to move to England. “I’m disappointed,” said Brown. “It was a surprise he’s gone to another Scottish team. We made him a very good offer to stay here and the fact that he didn’t is disappointing. That’s all from my point of view. We’d love to have kept him.”

During contract discussions with the Dons, Aluko indicated his wish to play in England, but Brown denied that was for family reasons. “I don’t think he said family any time,” Brown added.

“We should be disappointed that he’s chosen another Scottish club, but I think the player’s got to look after his own best interests.

“Maybe he didn’t get an offer from England and I suspect that as that was his aim, to go back south again.

“Therefore, you’ve got to take a job offer when you can get it. He had one from Aberdeen and the big disappointment to me is that he chose to move on.

“I think he felt his shelf life was over here and that he should move, in spite of his acknowledgement that he was happy here and that it was a very good club.”

Brown does not anticipate the fee received for Aluko will impact on his January spending.

He said: “Any money from the Sone move will not really affect any potential budget I might get in January.

“If we get X amount it does not mean I will only have X amount to spend. We might spend less, we might spend more.”