Report: Manchester United interested in Aston Villa star John McGinn
By Jamie Waddell
Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn has emerged as a transfer target fr Manchester United, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper reports that incoming manager Erik ten Hag is set to be handed a transfer “war chest” to improve the Man United squad and McGinn, 27, is on their radar.
It is understood that Declan Rice of West Ham is still thought to be the primary target to fill the defensive midfield void in the United midfield, but with West Ham suggesting they would like £150million, this makes him a difficult capture for the Red Devils.
Got to keep him
Aston Villa will hopefully not make life easy for United with McGinn being a fan favourite.
While he may not be an out and out defensive midfielder, McGinn’s tenacity and work rate could easily improve the menial options of Manchester United.
To the naked eye, McGinn appears to play similarly to the newly-revitalised Fred, but when you look at his stats defensively they are in a different stratosphere.
As per OneFootball, McGinn has won 58% of his tackles to Fred’s 39% and won 61% of his aerial duels to the Brazilian’s 55%. McGinn has made more tackles (86) clearances (26) and won more duels (60%) than both Fred and Matic combined.
McGinn’s energy and commitment to the press that ten Hag would be implementing (or attempting to) would work perfectly in the midfield.
While he is not the out and out defensive midfielder that United have been crying out for years now, McGinn would be a great addition to the Manchester United squad.
In other Aston Villa news, Douglas Luiz could return in two changes to Villa’s starting line-up against Tottenham.