John McGinn reveals he was 'desperate' to sign for Celtic before Aston Villa move

John McGinn has revealed he was “desperate” to sign for Celtic before he ultimately swapped Hibs for Aston Villa.

The midfielder moved to Birmingham in 2018 but was involved in a months-long transfer saga over a potential move to his boyhood club.

The Scotland international says his grandpa, the late former Hoops chairman Jack McGinn, was encouraged to influence him to switch to Glasgow.

McGinn made 136 appearances for the Edinburgh club, scoring 18 goals.

The Aston Villa captain, speaking on the Overlap podcast, said: “I think they felt that, because I was a Celtic fan, it would just happen. That nobody else would come, and Hibs would crumble.

“Hibs were amazing at the time. They said, ‘We’re not going to stand in your way, we know you want to be a Celtic player, but they need to pay us what you’re worth.'”

He added: “I think it was two or three million at the time, and I think they bid a few times.

“They actually phoned my grandpa to try to influence me at the time, but he had a good relationship with both sides. He trusted me and my agent, and he said, ‘Listen, it’s nothing to do with me. If you’ve got the money, pay the money and John will play for Celtic.’

“But I think that was just another tactic, and then it just went on and on. It actually went on for months. I met Brendan Rodgers. I was desperate to go to Celtic. Everyone at Hibs knew I was desperate to go, and they were absolutely first class.”

The now Villa skipper, who played a vital role in their promotion to the English Premier League, admitted that while he didn’t have lifelong ambitions to play for the Midlands club, he was glad the deal was concluded quickly.

He said: “Aston Villa phoned a week before their takeover and said, ‘We’re interested, but we need to get taken over.’ It’s the same owners now, but they got the takeover, and within one day it was done to Villa.”

When asked why Celtic didn’t move quicker to secure his services, the ex-St Mirren player said: “They’ve done that with quite a few players. I think if I wasn’t Scottish, if I wasn’t a Celtic fan, if they thought a team would come in, they probably would have just done it.

“But I don’t think they believed my agent at the time when he said, ‘If Villa get a takeover, they’re coming in.’ I think they thought it was a bluff for more money. I didn’t dream of playing for Villa.”