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‘Really top player’: Steve Bruce loves 25-year-old linked with Newcastle move

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images
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Newcastle United will reportedly look to keep John McGinn in the Premier League if Dean Smith’s Aston Villa are relegated this summer.

John McGinn of Aston Villa looks on during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Leicester City at Villa Park on December 08, 2019 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Steve Bruce is hoping to link up with the £30 million-rated John McGinn again at Newcastle United if Aston Villa succumb to relegation, according to the Daily Star.

If or when the 2019/20 Premier League campaign can be resumed, Villa boss Dean Smith will be praying that his all-action Scot will be fit enough to feature from the off.

McGinn was one of the top-flight’s most impressive midfielders before suffering a fractured ankle around the turn of the year, robbing the Midland giants of arguably their most influential and important cog – and we include silky skipper Jack Grealish in that.

Villa may be forced to cash in on a couple of their key players unless they can pull off a dramatic escape from the drop in the final few games with Grealish and centre-back Tyrone Mings already tipped to depart.

And, according to the Star, Newcastle will test the water with a £30 million offer as Bruce looks to reunite with a man he signed for £2.5 million back in the summer of 2018.

“He has to be one of my best ever signings because he has the determination to do well,” the Geordie gaffer told the Telegraph.

John McGinn of Aston Villa in action during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Everton FC at Villa Park on August 23, 2019 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

 

“Yes, he can play at (Premier League) level. From what he has done in the last 12 months, he can only improve. He has done brilliantly. I always knew he would be good, but he has surpassed even my expectations.

“He can go on to become a really top player. I wish I could find a few more like him.”

There are of course a lot of ifs here. Newcastle probably need Villa to be relegated if they want to get a deal done, while it remains to be seen whether owner Mike Ashley would stump up £30 million in an era of unprecedented financial uncertainty.

But McGinn, a man who can do pretty much everything and do it brilliantly, already feels like a Newcastle icon in the making.

Supporters of Aston Villa display a banner in favour of John McGinn who has the nickname of Meatball during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Watford FC at Villa Park on...