After a successful first transfer window for Steven Gerrard as Aston Villa manager, it is clear to already see the direction the 41-year-old wants to take the Villans whilst in charge of the West Midlands outfit.
The additions of Lucas Digne for £25m from Everton and Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona were standout deals as Villa certainly made a statement of intent. However, big money purchases made back in the summer such as Leon Bailey and Danny Ings who were also major statements at the time from the NSWE group.
Of course, big spending will be essential if Aston Villa want to venture into Europe in the near future, however, it’s important to remember the deals that have proven to be bargains and not to shy away from them. John McGinn is the perfect example.
The Scottish midfielder has now been at Villa Park for three-and-a-half years having signed for £2m from Scottish Premiership outfit Hibernian in August 2018.
When McGinn signed, Villa had just missed out on promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking, having lost 1-0 to Fulham in the Championship playoff final.
The midfielder would then go on to prove instrumental in the Second City club’s 2018/19 campaign, in which they finally achieved promotion back to the top-flight with a 2-1 win in the playoff final, this time against Derby County.
Fast-forward just under three years and the Scotsman has looked incredibly settled in the Premier League and has even been subject to strong interest from Manchester United amid a potential £50m move to Old Trafford.
Valued by Transfermarkt at £27m, a £50m fee would be a major scalp for Villa, particularly given that they paid £2m for his services in 2018. However, regardless of a potential swoop from another club, the Aston Villa hierarchy should be proud of striking gold in the form of McGinn.
When the 27-year-old signed for the then-Championship club, his market value stood at £1.58m, slightly under the figure paid by the West Midlands outfit. However, once the Villans secured promotion and McGinn upgraded his status to a Premier League footballer, his value rocketed to £5.58m.
The steepest upwards trajectory the Scotsman’s market value has received whilst being at Villa Park came in the opening months of his first Premier League campaign, going from being worth £5.58m in June 2019 to £18m in December 2019. In that period, McGinn scored all three of his Premier League goals that campaign, alongside two assists.
However, the outbreak of the pandemic threw a hefty blow to the 27-year-old’s value, which dropped to £14.4m in April 2020 and didn’t recover until December 2020.
The 2020/21 season saw McGinn’s value soar once again, as the Scot went from £18m to £27m by the end of the season, which hasn’t changed since.
In the 18 Premier League games McGinn has played this season, the 27-year-old has started all of them, failing to play the full 90 minutes on just two occasions which has led to the Scot being labelled as “terrific” by his manager.
Spending big money on luxury players will always excite fans more but, the midfielder is a vital asset to Gerrard’s setup and only cost a snip compared to the figures that some players nowhere near as essential have cost Aston Villa.
In other news: Aston Villa made a big January mistake by missing out on this potential signing