Legia Warsaw are on the brink of signing out-of-favour Aberdeen defender David Bates for a fee over £400,000. That's according to reports in Poland, where it's claimed Bates is set for a medical today.
Bates didn't play minute of the Dons four Premier Sports Cup games and had been linked with a move down to England. Ipswich, Derby County and Bristol City were all touted as possible destinations, with Bates seemingly surplus to requirements under Jim Goodwin just one year after signing from Hamburg.
The former Rangers and Raith Rovers defender has been pushed down the pecking order with new captain Anthony Stewart and Celtic loanee Liam Scales the first-choice pairing. Even teenager Jack Milne has picked up some minutes while vice captain Ross McCrorie and new signing Hayden Coulson can both cover in central defence.
It seems it won't be England he is heading to after all, though. According to Polish football news site Pilka , Bates is set to be offered another European exit route, with the Dons and Legia agreeing on a deal "around half a million Euros." That would place the fee around the £420,000 mark - a decent return on a player signed for free 12 months ago. Bates is seen as a replacement for Mateusz Wieteska, who joined French side Clermont Foot earlier in the summer.
In total Bates managed 34 appearances for Aberdeen last season after being signed by Stephen Glass. As well as skipper Stewart and new left-back Coulson, Goodwin has recruited Callum Roberts, Bojan Miovski, Jayden Richardson, Liam Scales, Luis 'Duk' Lopes, Kelle Roos and Ylber Ramadani who will make up a key part of his new-look team.
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