Noel Hunt will not be allowed to leave Dundee United for anything less than £1m, according to club chairman Eddie Thompson.

Hunt scored 18 times in all competitions for the Terrors last season and has attracted attention from south of the border.

Reading have already had a bid of around £450,000 knocked back, and Thompson is keen to rake in a proper fee after letting Barry Robson go to Celtic for less than his true value in January.

He said: “We’ve already sold one of our top players to Celtic not so long ago for what has proved to be an absolute snip in the modern-day market, so we won’t be doing that again.

“Hunt is one of the top SPL scorers without the Old Firm and if Barry Robson had stayed that bit longer I’m sure Noel would have got quite a few more goals last season to take him into the 20s.

“Celtic got a great deal with Barry. He did as much as anyone to help them win the title. I’m sure the manager might look at it if someone was to come in and bid in the region of £1m for Noel.

“But right now we don’t want to lose any of our best players and certainly not at a cut-price rate.”