Liverpool have registered a genuine interest in Aston Villa’s 26-year-old midfielder John McGinn, claims The Athletic.
McGinn has been one of the key players in the Aston Villa squad since his arrival from Hibernian in 2018 and Jurgen Klopp is really keen to bring in the midfielder as a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum.
But it looks like Aston Villa are in no mood to send John McGinn out this summer as they are demanding huge amounts of money for the Scotland international.
The Mirror cites The Athletic saying: “Liverpool hold a genuine interest in signing Aston Villa’s John McGinn this summer. The Reds are in the market for a midfielder having seen Georginio Wijnaldum leave for PSG on a free.
“Doubts also exist over the future of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain meaning Jurgen Klopp may have to dip into the market.
“Villa are loathed to let the Scot leave however and have slapped a huge price tag on him of between £45-£50m. McGinn still has a five-year deal with the Midlands outfit having signed an extension back in December.”
Will the Liverpool management sanction a deal for John McGinn?
Ideally, £45-£50m is not a crazy sum for a player who still has four more years left on his current deal. But the fact that Villa paid only £2.79m for his signature makes the demand seems really inflated.
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Liverpool can afford to pay the demanded sum for a player of his abilities but Jurgen Klopp needs to bring in other reinforcements as well. Plus we are not sure just how much transfer budget the manager will be provided with this summer.
This is not the first time John McGinn has been the subject of a transfer interest so Dean Smith will know very well how to handle the situation. And given the massive rebuilding that Villa are doing for the upcoming season, it will only be a stupid decision on their part to let go of one of their most influential players.
Liverpool did not get a penny from Wijnaldum’s deal with PSG so anything they are willing to spend on the Scotland international will have to come out of their own pocket.
