John McGinn has been on some journey at Aston Villa.
It’s fitting that McGinn is Villa’s captain because he was at the club during the dark days of the Championship and he then led the team out in the Champions League this season.
Only Tyrone Mings and Jacob Ramsey were part of that Dean Smith promotion-winning squad in 2019, with many players coming and going since then.
Right now, Aston Villa are in a different headspace to where they were after losing the 2018 Championship play-off final under Steve Bruce – heading towards administration.
Ever since co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens helped pick the club up, Villa have splashed the cash and increased the squad’s quality and value by huge margins.
But it could be argued that Villa faced their toughest test this summer when they had to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) and Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), so had to sell key players.
Douglas Luiz left Villa for Juventus in the most high-profile exit and it meant that Unai Emery had to be clever in the transfer market.
And it seems as though a certain McGinn helped him along the way.
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John McGinn says he texted Ross Barkley last season about Aston Villa return
Ross Barkley was on Villa’s books when games were being played behind closed doors in 2020/21, but it was only a season-long loan deal from Chelsea.
The 30-year-old left Stamford Bridge, joined Nice, came back to English football and performed very well for newly-promoted Luton Town, but wasn’t able to keep them up.
But it seems as though Emery had his eyes on Barkley for a long time and he used McGinn to lure him back to the Midlands.
The Scotland international shared that he sent text messages to the Englishman about coming back after the manager ‘spoke to me a lot’ about Barkley, as he told Sky Sports.
And whilst Barkley ‘never gave too much away’, he was eventually donning the claret and blue colours again.
John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 training session at Bodymoor H...
Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images
“Pretty similar, to be honest,” responded McGinn on Barkley now compared to four years ago. “Of course, we are a wee bit older. He hasn’t got any grey hairs. I have got the grey hairs.
“Brilliant to have him with us. The manager spoke to me a lot last season. He is someone who the manager wanted here. He moved quickly to get him because there was a lot of interest after his season last year. But always good. We got on well. A few years ago when he was here, it’s just the same now. Brilliant to have Ross on board and he has certainly added a lot to the team.
On if they kept in touch when Barkley left Villa: “It was weird. When he moved to France, he was texting me back in French,” joked the Villa skipper. “We kept in touch. When I heard we were interested. I gave Ross a message and said ‘do you fancy it?’. But he never gave too much away. When I saw (Barkley in the Villa) jersey that’s when I knew.”
Barkley’s stats for Villa this season
Some feel Barkley should be starting more games for Villa because he has only started three games in all competitions.
The fans have been pretty happy with what he has been producing, with Emery using him in a much deeper role, where he is protecting the back four and helping build-up play.
Given Villa’s heavy fixture load, perhaps those starts will become more frequent in the coming weeks because, with Barkley in midfield, he certainly provides more control for the side, as WhoScored have rated his overall performances at 6.46.
Tournament Apps Mins Goals Assists KeyP SpG Tackles PS% Rating
League Cup 1 90 – – 3 – – 86.8 6.80
Premier League 2(10) 441 2 1 0.6 1 0.8 84.6 6.49
Champions League 0(4) 90 – – 0.3 – 0.8 81.4 6.28
Total / Average 17 621 2 1 0.6 0.7 0.7 84 6.46
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