Signed for £2m, now worth £27m: NSWE struck gold on "terrific" Aston Villa beast - opinion

After a successful first transfer window for Steven Gerrard as Aston Villa manager, it is clear to already see the direction the 41-year-old wants to take the Villans whilst in charge of the West Midlands outfit.

The additions of Lucas Digne for £25m from Everton and Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona were standout deals as Villa certainly made a statement of intent. However, big money purchases made back in the summer such as Leon Bailey and Danny Ings who were also major statements at the time from the NSWE group.

Of course, big spending will be essential if Aston Villa want to venture into Europe in the near future, however, it’s important to remember the deals that have proven to be bargains and not to shy away from them. John McGinn is the perfect example.

The Scottish midfielder has now been at Villa Park for three-and-a-half years having signed for £2m from Scottish Premiership outfit Hibernian in August 2018.

When McGinn signed, Villa had just missed out on promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking, having lost 1-0 to Fulham in the Championship playoff final.

The midfielder would then go on to prove instrumental in the Second City club’s 2018/19 campaign, in which they finally achieved promotion back to the top-flight with a 2-1 win in the playoff final, this time against Derby County.

Fast-forward just under three years and the Scotsman has looked incredibly settled in the Premier League and has even been subject to strong interest from Manchester United amid a potential £50m move to Old Trafford.

Valued by Transfermarkt at £27m, a £50m fee would be a major scalp for Villa, particularly given that they paid £2m for his services in 2018. However, regardless of a potential swoop from