NEW Dundee striker Leigh Griffiths had one of the shortest holidays on record this summer but is delighted he sealed a three-year contract to go with his sunburn.
The 18-year-old travelled to Cyprus on Wednesday for a holiday with his brother, only to be told minutes after landing he needed to rush back to be at Dens Park in order to finalise a £115,000 move from Livingston.
Griffiths was happy to book a f
light home within 24 hours, but revealed that despite not getting time to do the things he'd planned he managed to expose himself to too much sun.
The Scotland B cap, who scored 18 goals in the First Division last season, was targeted by SPL side St Johnstone but they could not come up with an offer to match Dundee's.
"It has been going on for a while so I'm delighted to be here at last," said Griffiths. "I was on holiday with my brother and his mates but I was happy to cut it short to come back and sign for Dundee.
"I arrived in Ayia Napa on Wednesday and almost immediately got a call saying I had to get the first flight back. I didn't get much chance to enjoy my holiday, although I did manage to get my back and shoulders sunburned.
"So I got a flight on Thursday night and got back into Edinburgh on Friday morning.
"I am thrilled to join Dundee because the club is going places, we've got new money coming in and the manager is building a good team. We're hoping to get promoted this season and I think we've got a really good chance of doing it. We've been made favourites for the league but we're not taking anything for granted. There are a lot of good teams in this division but we're confident."
Griffiths burst on to the scene last season and claimed his impressive haul even though he missed three months of the campaign with a knee injury.
"I was happy with what I did last season, scoring 18 goals in the league was unbelievable especially as I spent three months out after injuring my knee," he continued.
"I tore some cartilage and that set me back but I'm fine now and ready to go. If I can do half as well again this season I'd be quite happy but I've not set any targets. That might change as the season goes on, if I'm scoring goals at Christmas time I'll maybe come up with a figure."
The £115,000 fee Dundee have paid is the highest transfer fee in Scotland this summer but the teenager insists the hefty price tag won't weigh heavy on his shoulders. "The club have spent a lot of money on me but that's not something I'll be thinking about," he said.
"All I'm going to focus on is playing for the club and hopefully scoring goals, so the price tag means nothing."
Millionaire director Calum Melville, who stumped up for the deal, is delighted to get the player signed – and immediately turned his sights on Partick Thistle's Gary Harkins.
Dundee have bid £100,000 for the midfielder but are still £75,000 short of the asking price.
On Griffiths, Melville said: "We're thrilled to get it done because it has taken two and a half months and at times has been quite arduous.
"Jocky (Scott, Dundee manager] said early on that Leigh was his top target so we're delighted to bring him in. We're after another three players and plan to talk to Partick Thistle about Gary Harkins now.
"We hope to sign Brian Kerr next week and have another midfielder on our radar."
The full article contains 624 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
