McCart leaves Inverness Caledonian Thistle for St Johnstone after clubs agree fee
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle have confirmed that defender Jamie McCart has left the club to sign for St Johnstone for an undisclosed fee on a two and-a-half year deal.
Reports surfaced last week to say that the Saints had agreed a pre-contract with the 22-year-old, but were keen to bring him in this month, and now a deal has been reached that could see him make his debut against Celtic tomorrow night.
McCart was in his second spell with the Caley Jags, having first signed for Inverness on loan from Celtic in 2017.
He returned to the Caledonian Stadium on a permanent deal the following summer, and had become a regular feature in the heart of manager John Robertson's defence.
He played 62 games in all competitions in his second spell with ICT, adding to his 11 run outs the first time around.
After losing Coll Donaldson to Ross County earlier this month, Caley Thistle now have Brad McKay, Kevin McHattie and January arrival Lewis Toshney as options at centre back, with striker Nikolay Todorov also having played there in the past.
Robertson, like with Donaldson's move, says McCart's transfer represented a good financial option for Inverness.
"We wish him the best, he has been a fine player for us for the season and-a-half he has been here after his initial loan period in the Premiership," Robertson said.
"He has believed in what we're doing, he has battled to get himself in the team, he has done very well. We were offered a deal that the club found acceptable, so that's the way it is.
"We have been criticised in the past for letting players run out of contract and not getting anything for them, and the two deals are good money for the club with future percentages tied in as well.
"From what I'm led to believe, it's good money that the club have gotten for both players considering we picked them up for nothing, and it's good, solid business.
"It will be frustrating for the fans, I understand that, but once players get into the last six months of their contract, it's very difficult to do something when they've got the mindset that they want to leave.
"When they want to leave the club, we have to get the best we can for them and we have done that with both of these deals."
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