Hello there. Dropped in to see how John McGinn got on in his debut, and reports would indicate he did pretty well. He’s one of ‘our own’ - came up through St Mirren’s youth ranks, broke into the first team as a kid, stayed there, made over 100 appearances for us, won the League Cup with us in 2013.
Then, as is the case with many clubs our size in the post-Bosman era, left for a bigger club (Hibs) for next to nothing. See also other recent cases of St Mirren losing Kenny McLean to Aberdeen, Stevie Mallan to Barnsley, Kyle McAllister to Derby, and Lewis Morgan to Celtic. Fortunately, we seem to have negotiated a decent 33% sell-on in the Hibs deal, so now he’s with Villa, we’ll get some decent money. Decent for us, but he’s a steal at something around the 3 million mark. Just like us when Hibs got him from St Mirren, Hibs were in turn powerless to get any more for him, such is life.
Hibs certainly improved McGinn, he has grown older, stronger, played for Scotland. Hibs fully deserve credit for developing an already excellent young player. However, he is one of St Mirren’s own, not a Hibbee! Don’t let them tell you otherwise!
Best wishes to Aston Villa on your Championship campaign.