Lee Hendrie has been gushing over Aston Villa summer signing John McGinn after a dazzling start to life in the West Midlands for the Scotland international.
McGinn, 23, signed from Hibernian for £2.1million earlier this month, and has already started to look as though he was worth every penny in with two assists in two games.
And Hendrie has been raving about the midfielder, saying that he is every bit as equal to £40,000-a-week (Spotrac) West Ham player Robert Snodgrass, who was on loan at Villa Park last season.
“He’s been one of the best signings so far. Villa haven’t brought many in but this kid has stacks of ability,” said Hendrie on Sky Sports Main Event ahead of the Villains’ clash with Brentford on Wednesday night.
“He has a wand of a left foot.”
After talking about Snodgrass and his ability at set-pieces, the ex-Aston Villa midfielder added: “They’ve bought McGinn in who is equal to him (Snodgrass).”
OPINION
McGinn has made a flying start to life at Aston Villa and it looks as though Steve Bruce has absolutely robbed Hibs for the left-footed playmaker. Hendrie is clearly impressed with the Scotland international, who was also linked with Celtic earlier in the summer transfer window as he was in the final year of his contract at Hibs before moving to the West Midlands. Steve Bruce has had a decent start to the season and McGinn has been key to it. He could easily go on to be Villa’s player of the season this term if he continues this form and it probably won’t be long before Hendrie is not just hailing the midfielder as equal to Snodgrass – but better. It is a shame that Villa were not able to re-sign Snodgrass on loan from Premier League side West Ham, however new signing Anwar El Ghazi, who is on loan from Lille, looks like he may be filling the void left by the Scotsman.