Aston Villa signed John McGinn in 2018.
Former St Mirren owner Stewart Gilmour believes the cash windfall received from Aston Villa’s signing of John McGinn will help them survive the current crisis, Daily Record report.
Villa signed McGinn from Hibernian for £3.5 million in 2018.
St Mirren were entitled to a chunk of that after allowing the player to join Hibs for a development fee but with a 33% sell-on clause back in 2015.
Speaking to reporters, Gilmour believes the McGinn deal will help St Mirren battle through the potential crisis caused by the Coronavirus.
“I’m not closely involved with the club any more but I think we should be able to ride this storm for a couple of months. The one advantage St Mirren have at the moment is that they have money in the bank. They have taken in £1.9million in transfers over the last few years. Yes they’ve spent some of it but they must have £500,000 left of it I’d have thought,” he explained.
St Mirren are currently ninth in the Scottish Premiership.
The current suspension due to the Coronavirus has spread fear among smaller clubs that their futures are at risk with no money arriving via match-day sales.
Gilmour, however, feels his former club have a cash reserve with McGinn’s transfer a big help.
The Scotland international has been a stunning success at Villa, playing a key role in the club’s promotion via the Championship playoffs last season.
The 25-year-old posted an impressive seven goals and nine assists.
An injury, however, stumped his progress in the Premier League and Villa are currently second bottom with ten games left to play.
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