Alan Hutton’s comment on Instagram that it was “not true” that he has been released shows a man really determined to stay at the club.
The Scottish international was named on a list of players sent to the EFL who will be let go, but our no 21 still has a couple of weeks to run on his contract that expires at the end of the month.
He has been written off so many times before at this club, but it seems that despite the financial issues, he is not done with us quite yet.
The Birmingham Mail report that his family are settled in the area and the 33-year-old is said to be “desperate to stay” and continue with us.
The commitment of the player is something that cannot be doubted. The manager has already spoken about wanting the defender to stay on, and much will probably depend on how much of a wage cut he is willing to take.
Reports suggest he is on £20k a week at present, and while there are numerous other players on much higher wages, cost cutting will mean anyone out of contract is likely to be shown the door no matter their contribution to the first team.
With £11m to raise before the end of the month to pay the club’s bills, Tony Xia and the board are unlikely to be too sentimental with finances the major concern.
Such circumstances seemingly haven’t stopped Alan from wanting to stay on though. At 33, he could easily sit back and retire, he could return home to Scotland, or even take up a reportedly lucrative two-year deal at Nottingham Forest, but the Scottish Cafu seems determined to stay through the hard times. The right-back deserves huge credit for that.
If he does get his new deal, there is no doubt that the Holte End will be singing about him throughout the course of next season.
