John McGinn has given an in-depth account of the summer of 2018 when it seemed that he was certain to join Celtic, the club that his Grand-father Jack had been chairman of.
It should have been one of the easiest transfers in the history of the club, sorting out a deal for a former Season Ticket holder to join the club, work alongside Brendan Rodgers as the club built on two domestic trebles and two stints in the group stage of the Champions League.
Foreign players might need the hard sell and some arm-twisting into the opportunity but it seems that Peter Lawwell thought that minimal effort was needed on McGinn for an area of the team that was already strong.
Rodgers made his unhappiness known on the eve of playing AEK Athens in the Champions League, some would argue that from the point onwards Celtic had peaked and were on a downward trajectory.
Both sides are needed in every story, McGinn is a huge success at Aston Villa but speaking to Graham Hunter on The Big Interview the former Hibs midfielder explains his way through the 2018 summer Transfer window.
24 minutes
I spent 15 years as a Season Ticket holder at Celtic with my Dad and my brothers, I always dreamed of playing for Celtic and that’s probably something that never ever leaves you, in fact it doesn’t.
The summer before (2017) I was really close to going to Nottingham Forest on Deadline Day. It was Mark Warburton and David Weir who were in charge at the time. It’s tough, you have to balance things up, is this opportunity going to come around. I was loving my time at Hibs, I didn’t want to leave but I wanted to test myself at a higher level and go and see if I could do that.
So, credit to my agent at that time, me and him have such a relationship, we’re close mates but it would have been very easy for him to push through the move, there was pressure from Forest but that’s not my nature, it wasn’t what I wanted to do and he was fully on board with that.
He said ‘just back yourself, I believe you are a good player, you believe you are a good player, a Villa might come up next season.
I wasn’t thinking of Villa, I was like ‘aye good one’ but he actually said that 12 months before but in my head I’m thinking ‘Celtic might come in,’ that’s what I was thinking at the time.
So I managed to have a good season, you read the reports and you hear that Celtic are interested here and there but you never actually believe it. Then it gets to the end of the season, Celtic put in an offer but it is way below what Hibs wanted but when that first offers come in you think ‘right, it’s done, it’s going to happen,’ so it is just a waiting game but it ended up being the longest waiting game ever.
I ended up back for pre-season, ironically again, Neil Lennon was the Hibs manager at the time. Hibs were amazing, it’s not a popular decision if you go from Hibs to Celtic but I think everyone, the supporters, the board, we all had a kind of understanding that it was what I wanted and I respect that I wouldn’t kick the door down. I wouldn’t want to ruin what I’d built at Hibs. I thought that it had to work both ways. We end up getting a few more guarantees that things are going to progress.
I remember, a funny story, driving to a European tie over in the Faroe Isles with Hibs, I had been told Celtic are going to make an offer today, not to play in the game because I’d be cup-tied for the European games coming up for Celtic.
So, I’m waiting all day, nothing happens. I’m going round these winding roads in the Faroe Isles not knowing if I’m going to be playing in the game or not.
I think at the time my agent was waiting, I’d told my Mum and Dad, they were waiting, nobody had a Scoobie. The (Hibs) players didn’t know what was going on, I’m sitting there going round the windy roads.
To be fair to Leanne (Dempster, Hibs CEO) and everyone at Hibs they were all waiting as well, they didn’t know, sorta what was going on. So, I’m out checking the pitch. I don’t know why I’m checking it, its Astroturf. The gaffer comes out, Neil Lennon, he was so good, one of the best man-managers that I’ve ever had. He knew what I was going through, what I wanted but the offer didn’t come for whatever reason.
So, I remember speaking to the manager, then I phoned my Dad and my agent, a three-way call and I thought ‘know what, I’m playing, I’m playing in the game, nothing is happening’. I played that night, I scored, it was good, a good performance, bit wild. We won convincingly but it was a complete roller-coaster and I was proud of myself after because, I thought, this isn’t right, I need to play this game.
I believed in myself as a player, if someone wanted me then try a bit harder. Doubts started going in my head. I’m thinking ‘is this the right thing’. Then it started to become a bit of a sit-com. It was getting more and more publicity, offers eventually came in.
You start thinking, you’re from the West of Scotland, you’d be naive to think, you switch on Super Scoreboard every now and then, you’ve got Jimmy from Bargeddie phoning in saying ‘Ah, he’s no going to get a game, he’s no going to get a game’.
So, you then, that was quite a popular opinion at the time. So, then you start to worry, am I making a decision with my heart here, am I going to go and sit on the bench.
At that time Celtic had an unbelievable midfield who had gelled together. I think Stuart Armstrong was still there, (Ryan) Christie, Scott Brown, (Olivier) Ntcham, all of them playing at the top of their game. There was no doubt I had the belief that I’d go there and play but then I had to weigh up everything.
I still had, in my head, that I wanted to play for Celtic but then eventually time went on and it was August – I don’t know how it managed to get to August, I have no idea – but I started to become quite good at just playing and it probably spurred me on to play better.
That spell was probably some of the best football I’ve played in my career. We managed to win in Greece in Europe, had a good start to the season. I ended up just being content playing football and block out the noise, that’s all it was at one point. There wasn’t really a resolution and then Villa got a takeover and I kind of knew there was a wee bit of interest.
Next thing you know I’m walking around the Edinburgh Festival and my agent phones asking if I’d like to have a look around at Villa. I’m like, ‘Aye, aye I’ll go and have a look’, didn’t end up coming back.
We went to the training ground and the stadium and I felt the way I was treated was perfect. That was a hard moment because I remember speaking to my mum and dad and they’d resigned defeat to Celtic. Mum and Dad grew up etched in Celtic, I wanted to play for Celtic, but it just wasn’t right. Maybe in the future you never know but that is something I can’t affect now, it’s passed.
I had something to prove to a number of people, English football didn’t have a clue who I was which I quite liked. Right away I thought ‘fresh start’ people up the road that thought I couldn’t play for Celtic.
On 8 August 2018 McGinn joined Villa from Hibs in a deal believed to have cost £2.5m, two weeks earlier Celtic sold Stuart Armstrong to Southampton for £7m.
CLICK HERE for Rodgers’ frustration over the McGinn failure.
