Aston Villa’s John McGinn has seriously impressed Dean Smith it seems.
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has told The Birmingham Mail that he has been left astonished by how good John McGinn is.
The Scottish midfielder is enjoying an excellent first season in English football after joining for £2.75 million from Hibernian during the summer.
Smith only took the reins at Aston Villa last month following Steve Bruce’s sacking, but the former Brentford manager admits that the 25-year-old is much better than he thought.
“He’s been outstanding,” Smith told The Birmingham Mail.
“I can only talk about since I have been here but he is a better player than I could have dreamed of. He has energy and quality, bundles of it. We are very fortunate to have him.”
McGinn has started 15 of the Villans’ 17 Championship games this season, netting twice and setting up another four.
He really has taken England’s second tier by storm and if Smith can add some more quality in January, the likes of McGinn can really help Aston Villa enjoy a brilliant second half of the season.
As it stands, Villa are 11th in the Championship, but they’re only four points behind sixth-placed Derby – who they smashed 3-0 this past weekend – in the last playoff spot.
They have a massive derby at home to Birmingham after the international break, and another dazzling display from McGinn against Brum would enhance his reputation among Smith and the Villa Park faithful.
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