St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has revealed that the club could not afford to keep Rowan Vine.
The former Portsmouth, QPR, Luton Town and Birmingham City striker scored seven goals in 35 Scottish Premier League appearances for the Saints last season but joined Hibernian on Monday.
Vine wasn't too happy with how things finished at McDiarmid Park but Wright wanted to clear up that the club could simply not afford him.
"I like Rowan, and (former boss) Steve (Lomas) and myself wanted to keep Rowan. We were disappointed to see him go but financially we couldn't keep him," said Wright.
"I think he's quoted as saying Steve promised him something. I don't see how Steve could have done that because we were told we couldn't keep Rowan.
"I don't know what happened in any conversations he had with Steve but I know the chairman had informed Steve and myself that we couldn't keep him.
"He did get a letter from us and his agent was made well aware that we weren't keeping him, so I don't know what happened between him and Steve.
"I like Rowan, I had a great text message off him when I got the job, and I wish him all the best at Hibs.
"And as he said, he has got an opportunity to play at a bigger and better club and we have got to accept that - that sometimes we can't hold on to players that do well for us because financially we can't compete with other clubs."
