New Aston Villa star man John McGinn has described Scottish football as a “comfort zone” for him, according to The Herald.
McGinn has explained that this is the reason why he opted to join Villa this summer instead of Celtic.
McGinn said, “[In Scotland] you can enter a comfort zone.
“I felt as though I had already developed a reputation there and felt it was important to go and prove that I can play somewhere else.
“I’m ambitious, which is why I chose Villa.”
Celtic had been chasing the 5ft 8in creative midfielder but after failing to meet Hibernian’s asking price, Villa won the race for McGinn’s signature.
Life at Villa Park has started well for McGinn as he put in a display that instantly won the fans over which included providing an assist on his debut, a 3-2 win over Wigan.
OPINION
McGinn is an ambitious player who wants to further his career by playing with the best players around him, this is something he feels he cannot do in Scotland and therefore he had to move on. It is likely very true that had he stayed North of the boarder his career would have stagnated and he would have stopped growing as a player, due to the lack of quality in comparison to the English leagues. At 23-years-old the central midfielder cannot afford to halt his progression as a player, and by moving to Villa, a team who matches his ambitions, he can make that next step up. By moving to the West Midlands McGinn has certainly left his comfort zone as Steve Bruce’s side will be pushing to gain promotion to the Premier League, something they just missed out on last season after losing the play-off final to Fulham. This means there will be big demands of the players to go one better this season and McGinn will have to be at his best for the full campaign to ensure that happens. There will be no comfort for him here.