'I was there when John McGinn signed for Aston Villa, everybody shook their heads'
Aston Villa's signing of John McGinn was questioned at the time but he has proved everybody wrong.
That is according to former senior Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The 31-year-old signed a new deal in November and has entered his ninth year as a Villan, after he joined in 2018 from Hibernian in a deal worth just £2.75million.
Everton had a bid for McGinn rejected last summer and were tipped to renew their efforts in this transfer window, but Villa would be crazy to sell him.
Unai Emery's team has already lost Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Lucas Digne to transfers this summer, and Amadou Onana to injury.
Captain McGinn will be required to lead the new players forward, in what is expected to be a difficult season for Villa.
'Everybody shook their heads' when John McGinn arrived
McGinn was a hit immediately in the Championship, and he would head Villa into the Premier League with the winner in the play-off final against Derby County at the end of his first season.
The Scotland international has only seemed to improve, season by season, since then, scoring a career-best 10 goals in the last campaign and providing seven assists across all competitions.
But not everybody expected such success. "He's been such an important player for Villa. You know the manager who brought him in? Steve Bruce," King told Football Insider.
"I was there. I was at Villa at the time, and he came from Scotland on a minimal fee. Everybody sort of shook their heads when he was brought in.
"I didn't have anything to do with it, but everybody was, 'John McGinn, who's he?' But he's proved to be a very, very important player in that Villa team. Whenever he's been out, they seem to struggle.
"When he's been in, he seems to generate a new energy in the team. Although when you look at him, he doesn't exactly look the perfect footballer. But by Christ, he scored vital goals for them last season.
"I think he's been a good captain. He's got a strong will. He's a strong boy. And he certainly hasn't let Villa down at all. Again, he was one of the better players last year.
"Unless they needed the money to put this PSR [profit and sustainability rules thing right, I couldn't see any other reason why you'd want to lose your best."
McGinn sets high Villa ambitions
McGinn helped send Villa back to the Premier League when he first arrived. He has since got them back to the Champions League and helped end the 30-year wait for a trophy.
The next achievement on the target list is one even more ambitious, with a big season planned.
"The manager is dreaming of winning the Champions League, that's got to be the next target," McGinn told TNT Sports this week.
"The first time [we were] in it, we got to the quarter-finals, we had a brilliant run, the performances in the tournament were brilliant.
"But there is no ceiling for us, as long as we have the manager in charge. He is the most ambitious, driven individual you can imagine. As long as the players who have come buy into it, we can kick on and achieve more."