Lewis Ferguson windfall is ON but Aberdeen find out harsh transfer reality about £20m Juventus target

Aberdeen hopes of landing a huge windfall this season have been dashed after Bologna stuck a not-for-sale sign on Scotland star Lewis Ferguson but his departure appears inevitable.

The former Aberdeen ace has been strongly linked with a £20 million move to Juventus in January after an outstanding campaign in Serie A. He equalled Aberdonian Denis Law's 61-year goalscoring record as the highest-scoring Scot in Serie A and Juve appeared to be closing in on the ex-Hamilton midfielder. That would mean a big financial windfall for the Pittodrie club after negotiating a 15 per cent sell-on clause when they sold him to Bologna last year.

However, the club's sports director, former Juventus and Italy star Marco Di Vaio, has now made it clear the club have no intention of selling Ferguson in the winter transfer window. He said: "Lewis Ferguson isn't moving and we all agree on this. Lewis and Stefan Posch are both too important for us.

"The strength of this team is having many players of almost equal level, we want to keep the squad level high both from the start and during the match with the subs."