John McGinn turned down the chance to play for his boyhood heroes this summer when both Aston Villa and Celtic came calling.

With the bhoys looking to get a the midfielder on a deal they lost ground to Aston Villa very quickly when the English side came calling.

Once Villa had a bid accepted by Hibernian It was only then that the Scottish champions matched the deal.

However, by that time, McGinn had already had a Villa medical and was close to agreeing terms.

The Scot had a conversation with Brendan Rodgers over the phone but his mind was already made up.

It was a move that caused a lot of hostility in the Celtic camp with many believing Peter Lawwell had missed out on the player needlessly.

Many fans believed the money offered to John was a deciding factor in choosing not to sign for his boyhood heroes but John refutes this and tells fans the real reason why he has gone to Villa.

Speaking to the Herald the midfielder seemed to imply it was more to do with first team football.

“I was so used to playing at St Mirren and then Hibs all the time, so it was really important that the next place I was going I was going to play,” he said.

“Thankfully, the manager so far has shown faith in me to go and play.”

It was no secret that John wasn’t guaranteed to get straight into this Celtic side. With Celtic rich in midfielders it could have taken the player a bit more time than perhaps it has at Villa.

It’s clear to see that Villa also made the player feel like he was wanted more. With Celtic refusing to get the deal done all summer, as soon as Villa had the money to bring him in, they didn’t hesitate.

Good luck to him.

10 COMMENTS

    • No they didn’t. Hibs did.
      Why pay over the odds for a plater who was not going to improve your team?
      McGinn proved he was never going to Celtic when he had that straight choice in the end. He knew he wasn’t being a first choice with us.
      As for you lot, you kept claiming he wasn’t Celtic class until the bidding started and the media convinced you Celtic were stalling! Get a brain of your own that the media don’t control!

      • Get a brain yourself joe , the media don’t make my mind up , if you can’t see he’s a player then that’s your problem, Villa won a watch , we got the booby prize in 32 year old Mulumba

  1. Three main reasons.£££s,Celtic on the slide,prospect of playing against park the bus teams week in week out won’t lead to improvement in his overall game…..

  2. We do need to move on from this old story look if he wanted to sign then he would have,our midfield needs some one who is going set us ALIGHT i just read about Wigan midfielder Nick Powell who is in the final year of his contract he would be much better buy even if he costs £4 or £5 million…
    Nick Powell at 24 would be a great deal and he will get goals and we still need a CH in January or before then would be a good news,our players do not look like they have that hunger and they do not look happy we want 10 in a row and more if any player is not up for that then move those players out,we must act as one from now on to the end of the season lets get this show on the road and get stuck in,look its not just SG and his team we need to beat we must beat every team we must move on and stop looking back lets go for it send this message out loud and clear we have the hunger and we are happy together we are a team.

  3. McGinn will IMO regret this decision in years to come
    No real Celtic minded player would not regret , whatever the stupid way Celtic screwed around with the transfer,going to play for Celtic over any team.
    It is no mystery why pride is the first of the deadly sins John

Leave a Reply to Olly Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.