John McGinn lands major praise from former EPL boss as he names 'fantastic' Scotland man's unique quality

McGinn, 31, has enjoyed his most successful season to date, captaining his club side Aston Villa to victory in the Europa League last month and a fourth-place finish in the English Premier League, before scoring Scotland’s winning goal in their 1-0 Group C opener against Haiti last weekend.

After securing the nation’s first victory at the tournament since 1990, he is expected to play a major role as they face Morocco in their second group game this Friday night, with Scotland aiming to secure a passage to the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in their history.

While the likes of Argentina's Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe have taken the bulk of the headlines in the opening week of the tournament after their own goal-scoring starts to the tournament, McGinn’s impact for Scotland has been singled out for praise, with former Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank admitting he possesses qualities that every manager at the tournament would like in their side.

“Messi has absolutely flown into the tournament,” said BBC 5 Live host Steve Crossman. “Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Mbappe - maybe less so Cristiano Ronaldo” before he was interrupted by former Scotland striker, and pundit, Kris Boyd, who responded by saying: “And John McGinn.”

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Upon the mention of the Scotland talisman, fellow guest pundit Frank interjected, saying, “I thought he was good by the way, John McGinn. He is a fantastic player. He has been really, really good for [Aston] Villa over many seasons. It seems like, 'Can you get something better?' But every single time he's out of your team, you miss him. That's a good, healthy sign,” he added. “Everybody needs a John McGinn, don’t they?” replied Crossman, to which the ex-Brentford boss replied: “I agree.”

It isn’t the first time the Danish head coach, who has managed over 178 games in the English top flight, has praised McGinn either. During his time in charge of Brentford in the 2022/23 season, the 52-year-old said the midfielder was Aston Villa’s “best player”, adding that he was “a little bit underrated” and “the glue in that team.”

McGinn was also praised by former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, who said: “On the touchline, when you are coaching, you appreciate just what an effective footballer he is. He uses his body so well to turn you. You can give information to players, and they are trying to execute, but he does what he does so well and consistently. I rate him really highly. When he was missing from the Villa team, there was a bit missing in their line-up. Unai Emery [Aston Villa head coach] rates him very highly.”