Celtic have scored five goals in five Scottish Premiership games while John McGinn is thriving in the Championship with Aston Villa.
Celtic had their chance to sign John McGinn and missed it. And they might live to regret that.
The Scottish Premiership giants were heavily linked with the then-Hibernian midfielder for the best part of a year and made a number of bids for his services over the summer. But McGinn moved south of the border with Aston Villa instead, signing for a bargain £2.75 million.
“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,” McGinn told The Scottish Sun.
“I had made my mind up to sign for Villa and thankfully I have made the right decision.”
McGinn has certainly made a great impression at Villa Park. The 23-year-old enjoyed a brilliant debut against Wigan Athletic and has been an integral part of Steve Bruce’s side ever since. McGinn was arguably the best player on the pitch in Aston Villa’s 2-0 win against Rotherham United on Tuesday.
And it is this thrust, vision and creativity that Celtic’s midfield appear to be missing right now.
The Hoops have endured a difficult start to the season, limping to a goalless draw away at St Mirren on Friday, albeit after playing the whole second half with 10 men thanks to Olivier Ntcham’s red card.
Celtic are five points adrift of league leaders Hearts and, perhaps most worryingly, have scored just five goals in five games so far. McGinn might just have been the man to get Celtic flowing again.
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