Today, though, the Dens supremo went out of his way to heap praise on the departed 23-year-old midfielder.

“I did think that because we are not some club abroad or even down in England, but the one right over the road, that, out of common courtesy, someone at United could have called someone here to confirm they were signing Scott,” said Brannan.

“It’s not a big issue for me, though, and what I want to stress is that Scott Robertson leaves Dundee with our thanks and genuine best wishes for the future.

“Never mind his ability as a player, Scott is an outstanding person and someone I have a great fondness for. I am sure he will do well in the SPL and hope he does.”

And the chairman believes it was a desire to play in the top flight and not money that was the deciding factor in the 23-year-old’s decision to move.

“If Scott had stayed here, he would have doubled his money with a new contract. He would have been our highest-paid player and it would have been the biggest contract here since the Bonetti days.

“What Scott wanted, though, was SPL football. Unfortunately, that is something we could not give him and he’s left for football reasons.

“We are determined to get to the SPL ourselves and, you never know, maybe one day we will see him back at Dens.”

And, as his club gears up for another crack at getting back to the top flight, Brannan appealed to fans to continue giving their support.

“Season ticket sales have been very pleasing and already we are over halfway to last year’s total. It looks like we will pass 2500, but what I’d say to fans is get out there and buy them and see if we can break the 3000 barrier.

“That would give us the confidence to continue the signing programme we’ve undertaken this summer and help us get to the SPL.”

Returning to United’s handling of the transfer, he was also at pains to stress his city neighbours had played by the rules.

“United have used the laws that are laid down and good luck to them. I don’t think they are ideal, but sometimes they work for you and sometimes they work against you.”

Having followed laid down procedure, for their part, United were not commenting on the matter.

Meanwhile, his scouting mission to Malta will not end until tomorrow, but Dundee boss Alex Rae has already seen enough to confirm his squad will be starting their pre- season work on the Mediterranean island

Alex and chief executive Dave MacKinnon flew out on Monday to check on facilities in advance of confirming a training camp at the end of the month.

And it has taken the manager just a couple of days to make sure all the boxes have been ticked.

“In terms of facilities, everything we need is here and we are in the process of confirming that we’ll be back here with the squad,” he said.

The training camp will run from June 25 to July 5.