Tottenham have big advantage over Man Utd as race to sign Villa’s John McGinn hots up

Tottenham have the advantage over Manchester United as both clubs look to sign John McGinn from Aston Villa in the summer.

McGinn has been one of Villa’s top performers for several seasons. Since joining the West Midlands club from Hibernian, he has made 145 appearances and scored 16 goals from central midfield.

The Scotland international works hard in the middle of the park to break up opposition attacks and then drive his team up the pitch.

He is now a reliable Premier League player and is likely to become an integral part of Steven Gerrard’s plans at Villa Park.

However, the Villans may have to fend off interest from rival English teams this summer.

Manchester United have been tracking him for several months. One of their main aims is to bolster Erik ten Hag’s midfield, with Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic set to leave.

According to The Telegraph, Tottenham are now in the picture to land McGinn.

Their interest comes from manager Antonio Conte recommending the 27-year-old as a potential signing at the end of the season.

Conte likes the look of John McGinn

Conte views McGinn as a top player who could help Spurs reach the next level.

The Italian can already use Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in midfield, among others, but McGinn is likely viewed as a step above these stars.

And the North London outfit have a major advantage over United when it comes to signing McGinn.

They are on course to finish in fourth and qualify for next season’s Champions League. Arsenal pretty much blew their chance by losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Monday.

Of course, Spurs could still lose to Norwich on the final day and hand fourth spot to their rivals. But it is most likely Conte’s side will be playing in the UCL in 2022-23.

As McGinn wants to feature in Europe’s elite club competition, he will therefore prioritise a move to Spurs over United.

The Red Devils, in contrast, are vying with West Ham to make the Europa Conference League spot.

Wherever McGinn chooses to go, he will not come cheap. transfermarkt put his value at £27million, although Villa will command far more than this.

The club will make a big profit on McGinn as they only paid £2.75m for him in August 2018.

McGinn’s potential decision comes as no surprise. He will want to follow in the footsteps of Jack Grealish, who is now a UCL player at Manchester City after leaving Villa.

United cannot offer McGinn that kind of experience right now, so moving to Spurs is his best bet.

Plus, the transfer would allow him to work under serial winner Conte at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Meanwhile, Teddy Sheringham has given his verdict on the futures Harry Kane and Conte at Spurs.