Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn has hailed Celtic captain Scott Brown.
Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn has suggested that he would love to achieve half as much as Scott Brown has during his Celtic career as he opened up on how great an influence the Hoops skipper has been, in comments reported by the Daily Record.
McGinn is gearing up for Scotland’s upcoming internationals with Kazakhstan and San Marino, and Alex McLeish will be hoping that the Villa ace can provide the same quality in the middle of the park that Brown produced on 55 occasions.
It is easy to make comparisons between the pair given that they were both at Hibernian, and had chances to move to Celtic. The Record reports that Brendan Rodgers wanted to sign McGinn while at Parkhead, but of course, he ended up heading to the Championship instead.
And McGinn seemed to suggest that he relishes being compared with the 33-year-old, insisting that he has set a benchmark that he would love to reach during his career.
“I’m aware I’ve been compared with Scott and he’s a player I’ve looked up to massively,” he said, as reported by the Daily Record. “He took me under his wing when I first went into the Scotland squad and as a former Hibs player knew exactly the position I was in and how daunting it was to initially step up to the national side.
“Scotty used to say I was a bit more attack-minded but I’ve noticed he’s managed to get a few goals recently. If I could achieve half as much in my career I will be delighted. He never saw me as a threat and that’s why he’s been so successful. He has an influence on the dressing room and always tries to help everyone further their career.”
McGinn does look to be on course to enjoy an outstanding career. He has been superb since making the move to Villa Park, and Dean Smith’s men currently look set to be the team to beat in the play-off run-in after four wins on the bounce.
Brown’s career has undeniably been a great one, with the Hoops likely to provide the skipper with his ninth league title this season. And another domestic Treble would leave Brown with a staggering 19 major honours at Celtic.
But perhaps McGinn may be about to do one thing that Brown looks set to miss out on during his career – play in the Premier League. If Villa do not get there this summer, it would be no surprise to see a number of teams at England’s top table make their move.
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