Chairman Stewart Milne has revealed talks have re-opened with the city council about a move away from Pittodrie. The club return to the Loirston Loch scheme, which already has planning permission in place.

Speaking at the club’s AGM on Monday, chairman Stewart Milne told Dons shareholders that Loirston Loch, near Cove, is still the preferred venue for a relocation which has been mooted for years but beset by development problems.

New 21,000-seater stadium has been designed for Loirston and already has planning permission in place. However, works never started as training centre in the planned location, which the club saw as integral part of the scheme, was blocked by councillors.

Milne also confirmed Calder Park is now not an option for training facilities but expects an alternative site to be in place before a new ground is built.

He told RedTV: “We still see Loirston as the best location for the new stadium and in recent months we have re-opened discussions with Aberdeen City Council about trying to reach an agreement on the purchase of the land which would allow us to go ahead with our plans.

“We have looked at other sites and there are other venues out there but we have invested a lot of money into the Loirston site and we still firmly believe it is the best option.”