There were 85 minutes on the clock and Aston Villa were already four goals to the good on Sunday when the home crowd burst into another huge cheer. The reason? The sight of John McGinn hotfooting it from one side of the pitch to the other carrying a St John Ambulance medical bag belonging to a paramedic busy treating Philippe Coutinho. A moment that chimed with his character but also his hunger: Villa smelt a fifth. Super John McGinn, indeed, as the terrace chant goes.
McGinn is guaranteed another rousing reception on Wednesday when the Villa captain returns to Hibernian for the first time as a player, in the first leg of a Europa Conference League play-off. McGinn made his name at Easter Road, helping Hibs to secure their first Scottish Cup in 114 years, but has burnished his reputation since a £2.7m switch to Villa five years ago. McGinn was walking around Edinburgh fringe when the life-changing call came. “Now he would cost more than before,” Unai Emery says, wearing a broad smile.
