John McGinn reveals why he rejected Celtic transfer

John McGinn has revealed why decided to reject the chance to join Celtic despite having his heart set on a Parkhead move at one point of time.

One of the biggest transfer regrets for Celtic over the last few seasons has to be their failure to sign John McGinn despite their efforts in 2018.

The Scottish champions failed with three bids for the midfielder as they could not reach a deal with Hibernian. McGinn was clearly interested in a move to the club that he grew up supporting. But as things turn out, he would decide to move to Aston Villa after they agreed to pay £2 million for his services although Celtic ended up matching the bid.

The move has clearly paid off as he has emerged as an absolute superstar in England. In his first season, he was named as Aston Villa Player of the Season. And then was having a breakout season in the Premier League as well before things had to be shut down due to the global pandemic.

And now he has revealed what convinced him to pick Aston Villa over Celtic. As reported by the Daily Record, he said:

"“It was important to weigh up everything and not just go with my heart because I had basically made up my mind I wanted to join Celtic.“But I also had to weigh up in my mind how strong Celtic’s midfield had been for a long time.“I remember speaking to Brendan Rodgers and he said the important thing I would take from it was I would play games.“But Steve Bruce said I would play every game.“I was used to playing week in week out at Hibs and it was so important to me that that carried on.”"

Aston Villa might very well get relegated this season as they sit on 19th in the Premier League table right now and as a result, McGinn might be on the move again. But right now his value is way beyond what Celtic can pay for a player.

A few months back he was valued at around £50 million and even though everybody’s transfer value is expected to go down in the post-pandemic market, he’ll still likely command a huge fee when or if he leaves Aston Villa.

Only if Brendan Rodgers had assured him that he would play every match for Celtic.