Micah Richards has spoken in awe of the ‘absolutely incredible’ John McGinn and the start he has made to the season for Aston Villa, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live (05/10/20 at 7:35 pm)
The former right-back claimed that Villa’s hard-hitting midfielder goes ‘unnoticed’ and he believes he is now back to his best after he wasn’t himself following his return from injury.
During Villa’s promotion campaign, McGinn was named the club’s Player of the Year despite a certain Jack Grealish wowing the crowd week in and week out – that in itself proves how much he is thought of in B6, but he was unable to showcase that last season because injury put him on the sidelines for nearly half of the campaign.
Either way, the left-footed Scotsman has a massive fan in Richards, who also shared that he keeps in contact with the player via WhatsApp.
“John McGinn, what a player he is,” Richards told BBC Radio 5 Live. “A lot of credit goes to Jack Grealish and rightly so. [But]I am giving John McGinn some love.
“When we were in the Championship, he was the man who did a lot of work that goes unnoticed. He scored some important goals. He got injures last season and I think he was out for [three months]. And when he came back, he wasn’t really the same.
“He mentioned that he didn’t feel right. He rushed himself back. We have a little WhatsApp group as well. I was asking him how he is. But he was just raring to go.
“But this season he has been absolutely incredible. Back to the John McGinn, I know.”
If McGinn can remain injury-free this season then he is one of those players that can not only match Grealish’s talents but go above them.
He has this great knack of winning the ball in the middle of the park, turning opposition players one way and then driving the other way himself.
Not forgetting his under-appreciated qualities on the ball in regards to how he can pick out a pass and then his ability to use that left foot to score a wonder goal.
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