Teenage prospect Jack Grimmer quits Aberdeen to join Fulham

Aberdeen today confirmed that Jack Grimmer has left Pittodrie for Fulham, a move which the club’s chief executive Duncan Fraser sees as symptomatic of Scottish football’s current plight.

The Barclays Premier League club have confirmed the 17-year-old midfielder will join their development squad for the remainder of the season, having signed a deal until 2015.

The Dons had hoped to retain the youngster’s services and claim his departure is another worrying example of young talent being lured south of the border by wealthy English clubs.

Fraser told his club’s official website: “There is a bigger issue here for the SPL and Scottish football in that we are beginning to see young Scottish talent moving south before they have fully developed with the teams they signed for as youngsters.

“The economic climate means nurturing home talent is the only way forward for all clubs in this country.

“However, if, after investing huge sums bringing youngsters through the ranks, top-flight English clubs can simply sign players for relatively small training compensation levels given the television income in England, and before the players have even had the opportunity to make an impact at top team level, then we have real challenges ahead of us.

“It is an issue we will seek to raise with the SPL and the SFA to see what further steps can be taken to safeguard our clubs’ interests.”

The midfielder was the youngest Aberdeen first-team player when he made his debut against Rangers in April 2010, aged just 16 years, two months and 13 days old.

Fraser said: “While we made Jack an extremely good offer to remain at Pittodrie, having signed him straight from school, he has chosen to move on.

“When Craig (Brown, manager) and I met with Jack recently, Craig emphasised that he would continue to be developed by being involved with the first team with a view to him becoming a first-team squad member next season.

“From a football perspective, everyone at the club hoped that he should remain with the club to complete his development, which we believe in the long term would have been in his best interests.

“However, in the end, he and his advisor thought otherwise. It was clear that a decision to move south was already the preferred option which is disappointing.”