Aston Villa are not concerned by Manchester United’s interest in midfielder John McGinn and have no plans to sell the Scot, 90min has learned.
After bolstering in both attack and defence last summer, United are ready to make midfield reinforcements a priority of 2022 and have added McGinn to a lengthy shortlist of potential targets which also includes West Ham’s Declan Rice and RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara, among others.
McGinn has been followed by those in charge at Old Trafford for a while now but sources have confirmed to 90min that Villa‘s determination to keep him has only been strengthened by the arrival of Steven Gerrard in the dugout.
Gerrard is known to be a big fan of McGinn, whose grit and leadership qualities have endeared him to United, and Gerrard believes he can help the Scot elevate his game to a whole new level.
That ambition is shared by the Villa board, who have no plans to even entertain interest in McGinn.
Instead, Villa plan to begin talks over a new contract for McGinn in the next 12 months – his current deal runs until 2025 – and their focus is solely on keeping the core of the current squad together.
Gerrard firmly believes that Villa have what it takes to wrestle their way into the Premier League’s top six over the next 18 months and, with some extra reinforcements, hopes to see his side challenging for Champions League football.
The Villa hierarchy have backed Gerrard with moves for left-back Lucas Digne and forward Philippe Coutinho already this month, having bought into the manager’s vision and direction for the club for the coming years.
McGinn is seen as a central part of Villa’s future and the West Midlands outfit have no desire to part ways with the 27-year-old.