Neil Lennon has claimed in The Times that former Celtic target John McGinn is good enough to play for Manchester United.
McGinn is now on the books of Aston Villa, and former Hibernian and Celtic manager Lennon believes that the 26-year-old has the attributes to be a star at United.
What Neil Lennon has said
Lennon wrote in The Times: “John McGinn was brilliant for me at Hibs. I loved him. When he went you could see the team wasn’t the same without him. He’s not crash, bang, wallop now, he’s kicked on.
“He’s got another big move in him. I think John could play for a top six team without any difficulty. He could play for Man United with their midfield because he breaks the lines, he goes past people. His engine is unbelievable, his will to win is good, and he’s got goals in him.
“He’s got a big backside on him. Nothing wrong with that. I had one, Kenny Dalglish had one, so he’s in good company. He’s so powerful in the core, stomach and thighs. He’s built for physical, heavy duty, hard rock football. He’s dynamic, he’s got a great left foot and his passing’s good.”
A ‘what if’ for Celtic
McGinn has done well for Villa, helping them win promotion from the Championship and then re-establishing them in the Premier League.
The Scotland international is on the radar of United, according to a report in The Athletic this week.
United are arguably the biggest club in England and one of the biggest in the world.
If McGinn moves to the Red Devils this summer – or any time in the future – then it could leave Celtic fans bitterly disappointed.
That’s because Celtic could have signed McGinn before he made the move to Villa in 2018.
Lennon was the manager of Hibernian at the time, and Brendan Rodgers was in charge of Celtic then.
BBC Sport reported in August 2018 that Rodgers, now the manager of Leicester City, wanted to sign McGinn for Celtic.
The Villa star himself said on The Big Interview with Graham Hunter in April 2021 that the Hoops made an offer for him.
In comments covered here on HITC Sport, McGinn added that he was not sure about making the move to Celtic Park.
What John McGinn said
McGinn said on The Big Interview with Graham Hunter: “Doubt started growing in my head and I’m thinking ‘is this the right thing’ then it started to become a bit of sitcom getting more and more publicity, offers eventually came in, so then I’m thinking, I’m from the west of Scotland I’d be naïve to think I wouldn’t be switching on Super Scoreboard every now and then and have Jimmy from Parkhead phoning in saying ‘he’s not going to get a game’ and that was a popular opinion at the time.
“So then you start worrying about whether or not you’re going to get a game. Celtic had an unbelievable midfield at the time, I think Stuart Armstrong was still there, Ryan Christie and Scott Brown all at the top of the game. I had to weigh up everything, in my head I still wanted to play for Celtic.
“I ended up being content with just playing football and I managed to block out the noise and then Villa got a takeover and the next thing you know my agent phoned and asked if I wanted to have a look, and then I didn’t end up coming back.”
The Daily Record also reported that Celtic and Hibernian could not settle on a fee.
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