Hibs sporting director Graeme Mathie says some clubs have submitted ‘really disrespectful’ transfer bids for Josh Doig, amid links to Arsenal.
Both Arsenal and West Ham United were said to have asked Hibs to cut their asking of £5 million for Doig by 50%. Doig enjoyed a breakthrough season at Hibs in the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership campaign. He has been linked with almost half of the English Premier League after reaching the Scottish Cup final and finishing third in the league.
Arsenal want Doig. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Arsenal links have been most prominent alongside interest from Leeds United. But Mathie says transfer talks haven’t progressed with anyone yet (Vavel): “Lots of things need to align so that he can leave. We’ve had lots of conversations with other teams regarding Josh.
“I genuinely feel that he is really undervalued by other clubs and that annoys me. If Josh Doig performs how he performed last season in English League One and got to a national final, teams would be willing to spend far more money on him, rather than if he was in Scotland.
“We finished third in the league, we’re in Europe, we got to a cup final, and these bids are really disrespectful. We feel some clubs have been quite patronising and more transactional, and it is hard. And for the boy himself, obviously, he wants to go to a bigger club like every other young player, but he is also happy here.
“We want to be in a position to say, ‘thanks for trusting us with your development and we can’t wait to see you shine at the next level’, but no clubs are making that easy for us. The worst thing I could do is sell Josh to a club that then only plays him in the U23s!”
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