Celtic are reportedly lining up a refurbished bid for John McGinn after their initial offer of £1.5m was rejected by Hibernian last week. The Hibs value McGinn at a much higher rate and are expected to get the very best offer from the Hoops, especially since they received £7m for Stuart Armstrong.
Brendan Rodgers would ideally like to bring in the 23-year-old as a replacement. The Bhoys’ head coach was quoted, “It is not a case of: ‘Get replacements and then improvements’ — it’s what we need combined. But it’s important we get replacements.”
Earlier reports claimed that McGinn was weathering the rumour storms while away on international duty at South America. The 23-year-old was serving Scotland in the friendlies against Peru and Mexico.
The attacking midfielder became a part of the first Hibs trio alongside Lewis Stevenson and Dylan McGeouch to start for the Scotland senior team since the 1956 draw against England. McGinn has registered 9 caps to his name for the Tartan Army and 12 in total for their U19 and U21 sides.
He signed with the Cabbage in July 2015 and is entering the final 12 months of his contract. The 23-year-old had made 46 appearances for the Scottish outfit in the 2017/18 season while also scoring on 6 occasions and setting up 8 assists.
The Scottish talent has been prolific for both the Easter Road-based outfit and for his country thus drawing interest from some domestic and English sides, who are all taking notice of his talents.
Adding him will definitely bolster the Celtic club ranks. Rodgers has already delivered two consecutive domestic trebles with the talent he has acquired over the past couple of seasons. Armstrong was instrumental to the club’s recent success.
He racked up around 150 appearances for the Hoops in total, 41 of those registered in the last term during which he was involved in 11 goals.
Armstrong and Scott Brown paired up around the centre circle and to really drive the young Celtic squad. However, now that he has departed, McGinn can be developed into a prime attacking talent and could be that figure in Rodgers’ system.
He could also challenge Tom Rogic in the attacking midfield position and be utilised on the wings if needed.
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Celtic will certainly look to continue dominating the Scottish top-flight while also placing a significant challenge in the European stage. Just making it into the group stages and dropping out of both the Champions League and the Europa League consecutively is not the best look for a team that have been lifting trophies on the home front consistently.
