Jonny Hayes will play for free for Aberdeen next season with his full wages deferred for 12 months.
The winger signed a two year deal at Pittodrie today with Derek McInnes revealing the full extent of the 32-year-old’s desire to play football.
Wage cuts are being discussed at Pittodrie with Dave Cormack expecting to lose at least £5m over the course of next season.
Hayes wouldn’t have been short of offers to move elsewhere but after a previous stint at Aberdeen under McInnes he didn’t hesitate when the offer came in to return to the North East.
The Dons boss told The Sun:
This deal wouldn’t have got done without Jonny making the sacrifice he’s made. Footballers get a bad rap at times but what he’s done is incredible.
Jonny and his agent deserve a lot of praise for getting it over the line. He’s deferred his full wages for the whole year. It wouldn’t have gone through without that but once we established it could be done then it was plain sailing.
With the impact of what’s happened, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything because of the huge financial hole we have.
We’re well aware of the restraints we’re under. Jonny had opportunities to go elsewhere and try something new, but I know how much he likes it here and he wanted to come back.
The last time that Hayes pulled in a red shirt was in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final when he scored against Celtic before the hoops went on to a dramatic 2-1 victory.
In three seasons at Celtic he won every domestic honour, playing a key role as the hoops won the 2019 Scottish Cup and League Cup at Hampden.