As the Hibs fans filed merrily out of Easter Road on Saturday evening after watching their beloved Hibees beat Partick Thistle 2-0 to make it 16 points from the last 18 at home and keep themselves firmly in the shake up for 2nd place, they would have glimpsed what life is going to be like without their star man John McGinn. The talented 23 year old midfielder was suspended yesterday and with him entering the last year of his contract it looks absolutely certain that Hibs will cash in and he will move on to a bigger club. Knowing Rod Petrie as I do I can honestly say that the mere thought of McGinn running down the last year of his deal and moving on a free would turn his famed moustache from grey to white. It’s just not going to happen and Hibs will be hoping for a bidding war to get as much as they can for him knowing that they still have to give St Mirren 33% of any transfer fee. That’s a big chunk of change. It was a brilliant and cute bit of business by the Buddies and will doubtless fund their own crack at the Premiership next season.
But who will McGinn go to? I have no doubt he will have many suitors in England with his game in particular looking taylor made for the English Championship and maybe even the Premiership. His excellent performance for Scotland in the recent friendly with Hungary was another timely reminder of his quality. The midfield three of McGinn,Armstrong and McGregor looked a formidable trio together. It was a wee glimpse of the future for country and possibly even club. John is a player for me who will only get better as he matures and develops. Also playing and training with better quality day in day out him will bring him on as a player too.
A lot has been spoken lately about the possibility of him going to Celtic and being the long term successor to Scott Brown and I can see the logic in that. For me McGinn at 23 is a better player than Brown was at the same age and I say that as a fully fledged member of the Scott Brown fan club. Broony has been the most consistent player in Scotland for the last 18 months in my opinion and has matured like a fine wine. But let’s not forget that John McGinn has won a League Cup at St Mirren, the Championship and Scottish Cup at Hibs plus has 7 caps for his country all playing with teams outwith the Old Firm. At just 23 that is a fabulous achievement already and shows that he is a winner with a winning mentality. But would John McGinn get into the Celtic team right now? Possibly not. Brown still has a few years in the legs and with Armstrong,Ntcham,Rogic and McGregor all around competition is fierce. So even if Celtic where interested and I have no doubt they will be in a player of his quality, would John be prepared to sit on the bench as understudy to Brown when he could go to the English Championship, play every week and move on again for even bigger money?
One thing is for sure that whoever wants John McGinn will have to pay top dollar. Hibs have always been notoriously shrewd at getting as much money as they can out of the buying club and I have no doubt Rod Petrie and Leanne Dempster will again play tight transfer poker. Quotes of 5m from Neil Lennon are maybe a little optimistic but 3m plus should be more than achievable. But again it all depends on the volume of interest. At that price it looks a no brainer that Celtic would be interested when you consider they paid around that for Kouassi who again for me looks nowhere near the same quality as McGinn. They don’t want to risk another James McCarthy scenario of letting a top domestic talent slip through their fingers for a relatively average sum of money.
With the vastly underrated Dylan McGeouch also set to move on under freedom of contract and Scott Allan only on loan, a fabulous current Hibs midfield could be decimated in the Summer. Wouldn’t it be great in a utopian world that clubs like Hibs could hang onto their top players and go and have a real crack at winning the league? I seen it happen before my very eyes in the early 2000’s as I was a part of a fantastic Hibs squad containing Brown,Thompson,Whittaker,Fletcher,O’Connor and Riordan that was broken up in their prime. That team if kept together would have went close to winning a league championship. It’s going to be a sore one again for the Hibs punters losing their top players but such is the way in the current climate. They are flying high and playing some superb football but the vultures are again circling in Leith. Enjoy them while you can.
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