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Opinion: Key player could leave Aston Villa for the same reason he initially joined

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Image for Opinion: Key player could leave Aston Villa for the same reason he initially joined

According to the Daily Record, Leicester City are keen on John McGinn, with new manager Brendan Rodgers desperate to sign the midfielder he missed out on when in charge of Celtic last summer. Aston Villa beat the Hoops to McGinn’s signature in August last year, but Rodgers has a greater chance of getting his man as he can promise Premier League football.

McGinn stated his desire to play in the English top-flight with Villa, but his past comments made at Hibernian may suggest he could leave if they don’t match his ambitions. The 24-year-old’s career started at St Mirren, but he made a name for himself at Hibs in 2015. Upon signing for the Scottish outfit, McGinn said he turned down a number of clubs as he still wanted to develop and aid them in their promotion bid.

He left three years later to join Villa and revealed to Birmingham Mail that “the supporters, my teammates and the coaching staff knew it was time for me to move on.” It took the side two seasons to return to the Premiership and McGinn clearly felt there was a ceiling to how far the side could go which is why Villa may be fearful about Leicester’s interest.

If Dean Smith’s men miss out on promotion to the top-flight, is McGinn really going to turn down approaches from the Premier League over the summer? The midfielder clearly has a long-term plan for his career and may not let a club’s failure stand in his way of achieving it.

With McGinn being a standout performer since day one in the Championship, he may feel he’s ready for the step-up. It’s up to Villa to prove they can too.

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.