John McGinn has proven to be an astonishing signing for Aston Villa.

Signed from Hibernian for a fee of £2m in 2018, former Villa boss Steve Bruce believes that he is his best ever signing as a manager, as the club beat Celtic to the punch.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he said: “A club like Villa, we didn’t have £2m.

“How we got him out of Celtic, I don’t know because his grandfather was the chairman. It took a couple of games of golf at the Belfry with his dad until we could muster the money together.”

He added: “He has to be one of my best ever signings because he has the determination to do well.”

Since his arrival, his progress has been quicker than rapid.

A star of the team that won promotion to the Premier League, he has taken to the top-flight like a duck to water.

He has been linked with a move to Manchester United and has scored three goals and registered two assists as Villa battle against relegation.

In his time at the club, he has made a total of 65 appearances, scoring 11 goals and registering 12 assists.

Red Herring or Real Hero: Only hardcore Villa fans will get all of them right....

To work it out, then, is to see that he has cost Villa the grand sum of £181,000-per-goal.

If that isn’t value for money, then what is?

An all-action, box-to-box midfielder, Bruce believes that he does have the talent to one day play for United, should they follow up their interest with a proper bid.

He said: “Yes, he can play at that level.

“From what he has done in the last 12 months, he can only improve… he has done brilliantly. I always knew he would be good, but he has surpassed even my expectations.”

Villa will face a fight to keep hold of him if they do go down.

But even if he leaves, they can rest safe in the knowledge that they have more than got their money’s worth.

Meanwhile, this Villa youngster is knocking on the first-team's door!