Why Celtic Should Beat Ipswich Town To The Signing Of John McGinn
As per reports from the Daily Record, Celtic are interested in signing midfielder John McGinn from newly-promoted Scottish Premiership club Hibernian FC.
The 22-year old is also a top transfer target for English Championship side Ipswich Town who also had a £1million bid rejected for the midfielder last week according to the Daily Record.
McGinn was a top performer for the Leith club in the 2016-17 campaign, helping them to the Scottish Championship title, in turn leading the team to a promotion to the Scottish Premiership for the upcoming campaign. He finished the season with a total of 37 games across all competitions and had an impressive tally of 5 goals and 10 assists to show for. His performances were rightly rewarded with the Championship Player of the Year award.
It is no secret that Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is a huge admirer of McGinn’s talents and abilities. Earlier this year, after the Hibs’ Edinburgh derby against the Hearts in the Scottish Cup, the Hoops’ boss revealed his admiration for the 22-year old Scotsman.
“He’s very good. He looks like the type of player you love as a manager,“ the former Liverpool boss was quoted as saying by the Scottish Sun.
McGinn, a central midfielder, is well known for the industry and the work-rate that he brings to the midfield engine room. The 22-year old is known to be a strong tackler in the middle of the park and is an intelligent customer, with good reading and anticipation skills. Technically adept, with good energy and stamina, McGinn has made the box-to-box midfielder role his own for the Hibs, since joining them back in the summer of 2015 from St. Mirren.
Having made his international debut for Scotland last year, he has been slowly establishing himself as a key member of Gordon Strachan’s side. Someone who can operate in a box-to-box role, McGinn also has the range of distribution combined with defensive nous, that makes him an efficient deep lying playmaker too.
Celtic finished the season as the undisputed champions in Scotland. The Parkhead outfit completed the domestic treble of the Scottish Premiership title, the League Cup and the Scottish Cup and were unbeaten in any domestic competition throughout the season.
The Hoops have great wealth of talent in their midfield, with the likes of captain Scott Brown, last season’s star Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic, and Callum McGregor. Yet Rodgers remains keen on strengthening his ranks with more local talents.
McGinn fits the bill perfectly. He is young, promising, and has shown a tremendous rise over the past two years. Young, strong in his defensive and attacking facets of the game, possessing of all necessary traits to develop into the team’s driving force from the midfield, the 22-year old has the potential to grow into Celtic’s midfield linchpin and Celtic should beat Ipswich Town to McGinn’s signature.