John McGinn has revealed how close he came to joining Celtic in 2018, only for the move to fall through.
The lifelong Celtic fan was eager to leave Hibernian for his dream club, but ended up joining Aston Villa for £2.75 million instead. Since then, he has captained the Midlands side to Europa League glory.
McGinn claims that the reason the transfer to Celtic never materialised was that the club "dragged their heels" while Aston Villa made their move. Speaking on Stick to Football, McGinn said, "I think the irony is: if [Jack] wasn’t my grandpa and I wasn’t a Celtic fan, I probably would be a Celtic player.
"I think they felt, because I was a Celtic fan, it would just happen. Nobody else would come in, and Hibs would crumble."
Despite knowing the Scotland international was eager to move, Hibernian refused to lower their valuation. McGinn added, "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.’ So I gave them my word that, ‘All right, that’s fine. You won’t stand in my way, but I’ll wait until they pay what I’m worth.’
"And it never, ever got there. I can’t remember exactly. I think it was two or three million at the time.
"I think they bid a few times."
McGinn also disclosed that Celtic contacted his grandfather, former Celtic chairman Jack McGinn, to try and influence the transfer. "They actually phoned my grandpa to try and influence me at the time. But he had a good relationship with both sides.
"He trusted me and my agent. And he said, ‘Listen, nothing to do with me. If you’ve got the money, pay the money. And John will play for Celtic.’
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"But I think that was just another tactic. And then it just went on and on. It actually went on for months."
McGinn initially expected the move to be completed before Hibernian’s European qualifier against Runavik in the Faroe Islands. He was informed he would not play in case he became cup-tied. He explained: "I was driving to the game and I spoke to my agent, who’s still my agent now.
"He had been told, ‘You’re not playing in the game because you’ll be cup-tied for Europe.’ So I was like, ‘Right, fine.’ Neil Lennon knew about this. The Hibs directors knew about this.
"And I was on the pitch, checking the pitch, and the Hibs guys were flapping. They said, ‘No bid. They’ve no bid.’ So in my head, my head’s fried.
"Neil Lennon said, ‘What do you want to do? I’ll support you. Do you want to play or not?’ And I said, ‘I’ll play.’
"So I just played the game. I managed to score that night, and then I think I signed for Villa 10 days later."
McGinn believes Celtic’s hierarchy did not take Aston Villa’s interest seriously enough, assuming his affection for the club would ensure he remained available. He 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 or anything like that. I bet they took me for granted, which at the time, I couldn’t quite understand."
McGinn had spoken with then-Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and was willing to fight for his place alongside Scott Brown and Callum McGregor. He said: "Brendan said, ‘You’ll have to come in and compete’, but you back yourself.
"I was excited to go there, but then Steve Bruce called and said, ‘Get on a flight.’"
