Dan Happe rejected big money move in England to sign for Aberdeen

Summer signing Dan Happe rejected a big money move to a club in England in favour of joining Aberdeen for less money, boss Stephen Robinson has revealed.

Robinson signed towering centre-back Happe, who is 6ft 6in, on a two-year contract to bolster a defence that registered only 14 clean-sheets in 47 games last season.

The 27-year-old was secured on a free having rejected a new contract at Leyton Orient, the club he had played at for his entire professional career.

League One Leyton Orient were desperate to retain the defender.

And Robinson revealed the Dons had to fight off competition from a big spending English club to land the defender.

Robinson admits such was the interest in Happe, and the financial power of clubs chasing the defender, he feared the Dons would miss out on his signing.

However, the Dons boss spent the entire summer constantly pitching an Aberdeen move to the stopper.

That persistence paid off.

Happe rejected big money move

Eventually Happe turned down a potential move where he would have secured “a lot more money” than at Aberdeen – after Robinson’s sales pitch.

Happe made his Dons debut in the 1-0 pre-season friendly win against Cove Rangers at Balmoral Stadium on Saturday.

Robinson said: “Dan turned down a big, big club in England’s League One which was a lot more money than here.

“I tortured him over the summer to make sure he came.

“He was someone we identified a long time ago that we didn’t think we could get due to his lots of options, from big clubs.

“But Dan has been in London a long time (with Leyton Orient) and wanted the challenge of Scottish football.

“He was impressed by the size of the club when he came up to see it.”

Happe made 252 league appearances for Leyton Orient and played a key role in their rise from the National League to League One.

Happe a multiple league title winner

He won a League Two and National League title during his time at the club.

Happe was a pivotal role of the team that kept 24 clean sheets in the season Leyton Orient won the League Two title in 2024.

The defender was part of the Leyton Orient team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship in May 2025.

They lost to Charlton Athletic in the play-off final at Wembley.

Robinson has beefed up his defence during the summer transfer window with the signing of Happe and fellow centre-back Lewis Mayo.

The Dons secured Mayo on a three-year deal following the expiration of his contract with Kilmarnock.

Robinson: ‘Dan gives us something that we missed last season’

A vulnerability at defending set-pieces was a damaging factor in Aberdeen’s struggles last season where the Reds finished in the Premiership bottom six.

That vulnerability increased when influential centre-back Mats Knoester was out injured.

Knoester was ruled out for three months last term having suffered a neck injury in January.

Defender Knoester was hit by another injury blow when breaking a bone in his kneecap in the final game of the season, a 3-2 loss at Dundee.

Knoester is expected to return to action in four weeks.

Robinson is confident the addition of Happe will fix Aberdeen’s dead-ball defending weakness.

The Dons boss said: “Dan gives us something that we missed last season.

“We missed someone that was really dominant in the air when we were without Mats.

“Dan certainly adds that with his height and strength.

“And he also has great ability as he is very, very good on the ball.”

[Source: Press and Journal]