Petrie would rather sell McGinn to anyone but Celtic

It comes as no surprise that Celtic have made a bid for Hibernian’s John McGinn.  The player was the standout central midfield performer in domestic football against a Celtic team who are at their strongest in that area.

Should he sign, he would be a similar age to that of Stuart Armstrong when he joined Celtic three years ago, and who he will replace in the squad.  He is also a better player that Stuart was when he left Dundee United.  He has the engine and attitude for Brendan Rodgers to significantly improve him.

Goals grab headlines and the two McGinn scored at Celtic Park last season, as well as his goal at Ibrox which secured a win, raised the player’s profile, but goals only tell a small part the McGinn story.

Hibs will be happy to wait until the last week of August and will try to attract other bidders.  Despite taking a back seat when it comes to day-to-day duties, Rod Petrie remains a key figure at Easter Road and will do whatever he can to sell to anyone but Celtic.  I don’t expect Celtic to pay whatever Hibs ask, so the deal is far from assured, but with only 11 months remaining on his contract, he will definitely leave Hibs before 1 September.

I see Belgium got awful leaky at the back last night….