Aston Villa are preparing for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash against Young Boys and John McGinn has reflected on his career under Unai Emery.
When John McGinn leads Aston Villa out for their first game in the Champions League, putting an end to a 41-year wait, it will be a special moment for the skipper.
McGinn signed from Scottish side Hibernian for just £3 million in 2018 and is inarguably one of the best-value signings in the modern era.
The journey the Villans and McGinn have been on since is nothing short of remarkable, including promotion back to the Premier League, a Europa Conference League semi-final and qualifying for the Champions League all in the space of six years.
With 240 appearances during that period, the 29-year-old has played a massive role in Villa’s success but it hasn’t always been plain sailing.
How Unai Emery transformed John McGinn’s Aston Villa career
Unai Emery’s arrival in October 2022 is the single most important reason why Villa were dragged from the threat of relegation to European finishers.
While he’s revolutionised the football club, he’s done so by transforming the fortunes of several players, including McGinn.
When Emery arrived at the club, the Scottish midfielder had just lost his place in the team and ahead of his first home match in charge – a clash against Manchester United – the Spaniard was advised to take the captaincy off McGinn.
Luckily, a conversation he had with McGinn before the match changed the course of his Villa career forever, as he told the Mirror: “At the time, I had just lost my place in the team. The manager told me that he was advised that he would have to change the captain and move me on.
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“He said, ‘I’ve been told this about you but I’ll make my own judgement. If my own judgement is that I don’t see you being involved here then I’ll make it clear and I’ll let you know.’
“He told me that my last 10 games hadn’t been good. But he said he’d watched the 10 before that and they were. He asked, ‘Can you tell me why that is?‘
“I was thinking, ‘Why has he watched 20 games of mine?’ I thought my time was up. A few games later, we played Brentford and won convincingly. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not going to be part of this.’ I thought I was finished. You start hearing from other clubs you might be available and you think, ‘What? Am I?’
“But he saw something I didn’t see myself. From there, he worked with me tirelessly. I never looked back. I’ll be grateful for him ignoring that external noise and internal noise to make his own judgement.
“It was a tough moment for me, personally. Looking back now, the week before Villa play in the Champions League, I think I’ve proved him right and others wrong. But those others aren’t at the club anymore, so that’s good.”
John McGinn in the Champions League
McGinn will lead Villa out for their first Champions League match of the 2024/25 campaign as they take on Swiss side Young Boys.
Ally McCoist has sent a warning to Villa’s players about the artificial pitch at the Wankdorf Stadium but that won’t impact the skipper, who will lead the press throughout the game.
The Scottish machine will start in a wide position, either on the left or right, but his pressing will happen from the front as he looks to set the tone.
With his relentless energy out of possession and quality on the ball, McGinn will be looking to deliver a telling moment in this match, just like he did numerous times in the Europa Conference League last season.
