John McGinn sends Celtic love letter to his ultimate Parkhead idol

He's a known Celtic fan and John McGinn wasn't hiding it in an interview for Aston Villa socials as he named one of his 'favourite ever' Parkhead stars.

McGinn is a superstar for club and country these days having taken English football by storm since his move from Hibs. The Hoops infamously missed out on the chance to sign him in 2018 but it's worked out not too bad for McGinn since as he now captains a team battling to qualify for the Champions League under Unai Emery.

The Scotland hero has eight goals and six assists in arguably the best season of his career so far and Villa could enjoy an historic finish to the season, currently out of the top four only on goal difference and in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals, where they face Lille on Thursday night.

He's a busy man but he still had a bit of time to wink at his Celtic allegiances. Villa paired up with Japanese club Vissel Kobe earlier this season and McGinn was asked on the club's social media platforms if there's anywhere in Japan he'd like to go. And for a Celtic fan, one answer was always coming.

He said: “I have always wanted to visit Tokyo but also Yokohama, as one of my favourite ever Celtic players, Shunsuke Nakamura, played for Yokohama Marinos. I think he only recently retired, so Naka, what a player, number 25, what a guy.”

McGinn wears the number seven shirt for Villa and Scotland and previously revealed that decision was informed by another Celtic hero of his. He told the Premier League's YouTube channel earlier this season: "Is Henrik Larsson the reason I wear the number seven? Yep, that's the reason. I always loved the number seven growing up. I always had Larsson seven on the back of my top. I don't play like him, but I just like having