Stubbs: Keeping Scott Allan a ‘defining’ moment

United, fresh from banking around £2 million from the sales of Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong to Celtic, made three bids to lure Allan back to Tannadice for a second spell.

The Premiership side are thought to have lodged offers of £150,000, £175,000 and £200,000 for the playmaker, however Hibs were insistent that the player was not for sale.

Stubbs, who also engineered the 11th-hour arrival of Fraser Fyvie following his release by Wigan Athletic, described Hibs’ retention of Allan as a “a defining day” for the club.

He said: “I want to build a team around good players and I want to build a team around exciting players. Scotty [Allan] comes into that category. I like him and we have a good relationship, so long may that continue. We rejected a bid. It is irrelevant whether we thought it was right or not because, as far as we were concerned, he was never going anywhere. It is a statement of intent from the football club about what we want to do here.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there were offers for one of our players but it’s great that we are in a position where we do not need to get rid of him. Monday was a defining day for the football club.”

Fyvie was Hibs’ fifth arrival of the January transfer window following the captures of Martin Boyle, Franck Dja Djedje, Tomas Cerny and Keith Watson.

The former Aberdeen youngster made 11 appearances for Wigan before underwhelming loan spells at Yeovil Town and Shrewsbury.

However, the Hibs manager believes Fyvie is returning to Scotland with fire in his belly. Stubbs said: “This is an opportunity for him to get back on track and get back to that potential he showed a couple of years ago. I think he is ready to grab the chance with both hands. He looks hungry and he wants to prove people wrong.”