John McGinn: The inside track on Aston Villa's Scottish midfield signing

We spoke with football commentator who writes for Scottish national paper the Daily Record Stuart Hodge, to get a proper look at the midfielder.

What kind of player are Aston Villa getting in John McGinn?

They're getting a midfielder that's got a little bit of everything.

He's not necessarily the tough tackling type, but he's an attacking threat, he's got a lot of energy and plays in the style of a box to box player.

He can pick a pass, he's composed and he's got a real maturity to his game.

What have you made from the saga surrounding him this summer? Celtic were heavily linked with a move, weren't they?

They were, and Celtic is in McGinn's blood, his grandfather, Jack McGinn, was chairman of the club at one point.

But Neil Lennon revealed that he'd spoken to him and said 'look, don't be blinded by the fact that it's your boyhood club. It's a short career.'

I think Celtic are to blame slightly for not being proactive enough too. In reality they could have had McGinn signed, sealed and delivered if they'd acted sooner.

I get the impression that they've been waiting until as late as possible to drive McGinn's price down, but now it's worked against them.

Also, Celtic are fairly well stocked in central midfield, with Scott Brown a part of the furniture there and plenty of other good options there too, so McGinn would face something of a battle to get in at his desired position.

There's also the fact that at Celtic, their contracts operate on a tiered basis, and I think with McGinn being a player coming from Scottish football wouldn't have commanded the money at Celtic that Aston Villa may have been able to offer.

What are McGinn's biggest strengths and weaknesses?

I may sound a little bit clichéd here, but one of his biggest strengths is that he doesn't really have any glaring weaknesses in his game.

In a game where technique is prized above all, McGinn's got most of the ingredients you'd want from a modern midfielder.

Aston Villa are essentially getting a player that's still young enough to develop but is Championship ready in my point of view.

What do you make of his price tag? Have Villa got a bargain at less than £3m?

It represents really good value for Villa.

With the bloated fees in the Championship, you only need to look at the price Ross McCormack went to Villa for a couple of years ago to see that this deal represents something of a steal.

On top of that, compared to McCormack, McGinn is a better player in my opinion in ability and physique.

The only reason Villa are getting McGinn at the price they are is because he's coming from Scotland, and a club outside of Scotland's big two.

He's coming from Hibernian, but if he was coming from a Championship club, you'd imagine Villa would be paying much more than £3m for him.

With that in mind, Villa are getting an absolute bargain.

Do you think he and Jack Grealish can work together now he's staying at the club?

I don't think it's the first thing I'd pick out, but they can certainly play together.

I understand the excitement of Villa fans in wanting a dynamic midfield duo in Grealish and McGinn, but it all depends on Steve Bruce and how much he lets them play.

Conor Hourihane is likely to be the man displaced by McGinn, but if Bruce throws the shackles on him, or gives him an overload of information in terms of what to do without the ball then that will curb his attacking attitude, which is what I'd say is his strongest suit.

The potential is certainly there between the players, but it all comes down to how the manager gets them playing.

Who would you compare McGinn with?

I think in a terms of Aston Villa, I'd try to imagine comparing him to someone with the energy of a Nigel Reo-Coker, and the panache and drive of a Stilyan Petrov.

I personally think John McGinn will put an imprint of his own on the Aston Villa squad as soon as he arrives there, but what I like about him is that he should win the fans over quite quickly.

There tends to be a bit of an attitude about Scottish players in England, but I'm sure Villa fans will be quite surprised at just how good a player they've got on their hands.

What do you make of John McGinn's potential? Could he be a star for Scotland?

Personally, I think Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney are on a different level.

However, John McGinn with the age he's at now, will be a mainstay in the Scotland midfield for years to come.

We're at the point now in Scotland where we've not qualified for anything again and now it's time to recycle and go to the newer generation once again.

He's got a few Scotland caps behind him already, although they've mainly been in freindlies.

But I think now he's ready to work toward becoming a vital part of the midfield.

I think going to Aston Villa probably helps his case too, giving him a bit more of a reputation in playing against tougher opponents on a more regular basis.

That will undoubtedly help him improve as a player and should see him become more of a player on the international level too.

You can follow Stuart on Twitter by searching for @hodgeythehack.