Last Updated: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:20
Aberdeen director of football Willie Miller fears they will miss out to a bigger club in their bid to sign Motherwell's Stephen Hughes.
The 26-year-old playmaker is set to depart Fir Park this summer because his contract expires on Tuesday and he is looking for new employers. Former 'Well boss Mark McGhee was hoping to take him to Pittodrie, but Miller has revealed that several Championship clubs, who can offer a better financial package, are also in the running for Hughes.
Miller told the Daily Record: "It's a difficult one because Stephen is well in demand but there are clubs with bigger pockets than Aberdeen.
"But Mark hopes to have a conversation with him about football. We've done that in the past and managed to persuade players to come here.
"A top club would blow us out of the water and if we're talking about Championship clubs they pay more than anyone in Scotland. The Aberdeen fans in general are sensible people and they realise the situation we're in.
"If Stephen enjoyed the football side of things with Mark then we have a chance. But he would have to come here for that reason and not financial ones. Mark was on holiday last week but Stephen was his player and he's been handling it. I haven't even got into it yet.
"But there won't be many new players coming to the club. There will be two, maybe three."