Aston Villa's John McGinn has opened up about the turmoil he faced this summer, when boyhood heroes Celtic entered the race for his signature.

The schemer had already spoke to Villa and agreed a deal, but the Scottish giants made a late play for him, causing him a stressful time.

"It was very stressful on the day. Are you making the right call?" he told the Scottish Sun. “At that time, Celtic, a team I have supported all my life, came in and were tugging on the heartstrings but it didn’t really get to that stage."

The 23-year old left Hibernian a hero after helping them end a 114 year wait for a trophy to lift the Scottish Cup in 2016, before helping them clinch promotion the following year. However, despite the late interest from Brendan Rodgers he revealed his mind has already been made up on a Villa move.

“I had made my mind up to sign for Villa and thankfully I have made the right decision.”

McGinn has since made six starts for Villa, all in the Championship, and become a key component of their side. He has also since represented his country, although they were soundly beaten 4-0 by Belgium earlier in the month.

The Verdict

McGinn is a super player with an exciting future, but I was surprised when he chose Villa over Celtic. Perhaps their solid interest came a while after it was first reported, because he was linked with them long before the Villa deal was done and dusted.

It is important to test yourself amongst the best though and McGinn perhaps felt that his best route to the top was via a highly competitive league such as the Championship, rather than a smaller and somewhat less intense competition such as the Scottish Premier League.

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