A RISING football star - who was being chased by a host of SPL clubs - has signed a two-year deal with Aberdeen FC.

After putting pen to paper with the Dons, Kieran Gibbons can now finally draw a line under the contract "saga" with former side Hamilton which has held back his progress for almost two years.

The 15-year-old was on a pro-youth contract at the Premier League strugglers, but when his deal came to an end in 2009, the club demanded around £9,000 in compensation from rivals Rangers and Dundee United.

But after an historic legal battle Hamilton finally agreed to settle and released Kieran from his football misery.

And now he is over the moon to have been snapped up by such a prestigious club as Aberdeen.

The St Peter the Apostle pupil, from Duntocher, said: "I'm absolutely delighted to sign for Aberdeen because it finally brings an end to the Hamilton thing.

"When I went up to check out Aberdeen the facilities were absolutely brilliant and the club really looked after us for the three days we were there.

"For me though it was not anything to do with the size of club I'm at, I would prefer to be somewhere that I'm happy - which I will be at Aberdeen." Kieran's signing was engineered by Alistair McColl, who has just taken up the role as Aberdeen's chief scout for West Dunbartonshire after moving on from a similar job at Falkirk FC.

He told Sport Scene: "I've tracked the progress of Kieran's career since he was six or seven when he was with Antonine Boys Club.

"He then did really well at Hamilton and when he was finally released there were quite a few clubs interested in signing him.

"But we took him up to Aberdeen for three days and he played his trail game and did very well - he's a gifted technical player."