Aston Villa bring in a new era with John McGinn

*NOTE - This article has been updated to reflect that fact that Bristol City’s Joe Bryan has not yet signed for the club, despite media outlets confirming it as a done deal*

Aston Villa have added to their squad with a quick-fire signing of Hibernian’s John McGinn.

McGinn has appeared on the club’s media channels and it seems that Joe Bryan will follow shortly - however, that is not definite.

For John McGinn, a central-midfielder, it might be a short while before Villa fully integrate him into the starting 11 - don’t be surprise if it’s quicker than that though.

This signing represents forward thinking within Villa’s transfer team, and everyone involved with this type of decision-making should be applauded. Will McGinn be a guaranteed success stories? No - but their ability to succeed at Villa should not be doubted. Villa’s fee for McGinn was under £4 million, which is an incredible value.

Remember when Aston Villa chucked money at the best player they could find? Dumping millions of pounds of (probably invisible and inexistent) cash onto whomever fit the bill? Well, it seem like for now, those days are over. Villa? They are big spenders, but they are now big smart spenders - as opposed to, y’know, the team that spent nigh-on £45 million on three strikers that have barely played.

Here’s to you, John. Hopefully this represents a big step forward for AVFC.