After Tony Mowbray’s snub, Blackburn Rovers may regret allowing Aston Villa to finalise the bargain transfer agreement.
After Tony Mowbray’s snub, Blackburn Rovers may regret allowing Aston Villa to finalise the bargain transfer agreement.
Before the 2018–19 season began, Mowbray had recently secured Blackburn’s promotion back to
the Championship and was trying to assemble a team strong enough to win the division and perhaps even surpass it.
The reigning Premier League winners were keen to establish themselves in the lower division and want to progress back to the top level.
McGinn was one of the players he could have signed at the time, with a major transfer window ahead.
What transpired in 2018 between Blackburn and John McGinn?
The Scottish midfielder further demonstrated his ability by playing in a preseason friendly against Blackburn, after making an impression for Hibernian in the Scottish League.
Despite being on the club’s shortlist, Mowbray, who is now manager of Sunderland, gave an explanation for why they chose not to pursue him, which is how Aston Villa was able to recruit him.
Mowbray stated in an interview with the Lancashire Telegraph that “John McGinn is a good football player and had been on our radar for a long, long time.”
“There was a feeling he was leaving Hibernian, and I know the folks there very, very well. Celtic has been mentioned frequently.
“John fell into a category where we were going to spend some of the money, how much on this position, and at the early part I didn’t really see central midfield as somewhere we needed to spend a lot of money,” Mowbray remarked, continuing to shower him with praise.
A major factor contributing to the pain Blackburn supporters will feel from this transfer saga is the extent to which McGinn has performed well for The Villains since joining. His first season in the Championship went beyond expectations; despite Steve Bruce’s dismissal following a dismal start to the season, McGinn was one of the team’s most vital players, as evidenced by the fact that he participated in 40 league games during the regular season, scoring six goals and dishing out nine assists—p
