Celtic are heavily linked with signing John McGinn.
Steven Thompson has suggested to Herald Scotland that John McGinn would not be a first-team regular if he joined Celtic this summer.
The Daily Mail reported on Friday that Hibernian want £4 million for the 23-year-old who, according to BBC Sport, has been the subject of two failed bids by Celtic in recent weeks.
Neil Lennon confirmed the Hoops’ interest on Friday [BBC Sport] by reminding his former club that the ball is “firmly” in their court.
But Thompson, a BBC pundit and former Ranger striker, believes that Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers already has sufficient quality in midfield.
He told Herald Scotland: “Whether John McGinn would get in their side straight away is another debate. He has improved every single season I’ve been watching him, but with the way Celtic are currently lining up, it’s difficult to see who he could oust to get into their side.
“He isn’t quite the same player as Scott Brown despite the frequent comparisons between the two, with John lacking the defensive discipline that the Celtic captain possesses. He likes to make forays forward and try to get involved higher up the park more frequently than Brown would.
“Olivier Ntcham is the only other sitting player and as big a fan I am of John, you would have to say the young Frenchman has real quality and would be hard to shift. And he isn’t quite a number 10 either, so he would probably not get in ahead of Callum McGregor.
“With Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton still to return to the fold too, it suddenly becomes difficult to see where John sits in the pecking order.”
Despite his Rangers links, even Celtic fans might agree with Thompson here.
McGinn can only either come in for Brown or Ntcham, but the Hoops captain had arguably his best season in Glasgow last term, winning virtually every individual prize on offer. He won’t be replacing the iconic skipper any time soon.
Meanwhile, Ntcham, a £4.5 million addition last summer, had a brilliant first season under Rodgers, and the Northern Irishman can’t really justify dropping him for the sake of McGinn.
The former Manchester City product, 16 months younger than McGinn, is a real talent and it would be a massive shame if Rodgers played him less regularly, just to accommodate the Hibs star.
Very few fans or pundits seem to be asking what Thompson is, but it seems a perfectly legitimate question, when you consider all the angles.
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