Blackburn Rovers must still kick themselves after epic Aston Villa transfer success: View | OneFootball

Rovers will surely be kicking themselves after the career McGinn has had in the West Midlands

Clubs across the Championship are always on the lookout for potential bargain transfers which can elevate their XI to the next level.

With the financial spectrum across the division varying depending on resources and club stature, this is so often the best tactic to deploy, as successful pickups can then be sold on for a major profit, or at least have a major influence on the upward trajectory of a side.

And it would be fair to say that the standpoints of both Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa have been miles apart in the past six years, ever since the East Lancashire outfit missed out on pursuing such a key cog in Unai Emery's engine room.

Blackburn Rovers' attempt to sign John McGinn

That's because back in 2018, then Rovers boss Tony Mowbray admitted to missing out on the services of John McGinn, who was then featuring for SPFL side Hibernian.

It was revealed on August 5th 2018 - four days before an unusual transfer deadline day ending instead of the usual August 31st - that Blackburn were set to go toe-to-toe with Scottish giants Celtic, who had been the only side to table an offer for the Scot at that time.

However, the Villans - then managed by Steve Bruce in his final transfer window at Villa Park - made the crucial swoop a day before the deadline to secure McGinn's services for a reported £3m deal on an initial four-year contract.

Just weeks after Mowbray failed to acquire his services, he would heap praise on the central midfielder the day before Blackburn and Villa played out a 1-1 draw on September 15th, 2018.

“John was on the radar, it’s good for him to come to England and test himself," he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“It’s been a pretty common route to leave Edinburgh and go to Glasgow and the Old Firm but it was good for John McGinn to come to England and test himself in a league where he will get tested. I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

John McGinn's contributions to Aston Villa's success

All connected to Blackburn would've been frustrated across that season as the Glasgow-born combative performer was a key contributor to Villa's play-off winning campaign of 2018/19 under Dean Smith, registering nine goals and 12 assists in all competitions, including the winner in the play-off final against Derby County at Wembley Stadium.

McGinn would also score the Second City outfit's first Premier League goal in three years in a 3-1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in August 2018, before settling into top flight life seamlessly despite the club's initial struggles after promotion, eventually securing survival on the final day of the season.

After two seasons of consolidation and change, which saw Steven Gerrard replace Smith, McGinn was named captain by the former Liverpool legend ahead of the 2022/23 season in place of Tyrone Mings, but Gerrard would only last two months of the season before Emery's revolution in B6 began.

And, just like the master tactician has seemingly done with every player in Claret and Blue, McGinn's game has been raised to new heights, accumulating 14 Premier League goal contributions since Emery's appointment a year and a half ago - which included a record-breaking strike against Arsenal last December - as well as registering six goals and assists in the club's run to the UEFA Conference League semi-finals.

However, it will be the start of next season where even more frustration from a Blackburn perspective will kick in, as the St Mirren academy graduate will lead Villa into their first UEFA Champions League / European Cup campaign for the first time in 41 years, having secured a remarkable fourth-place finish, as well as racking up 69 caps for Scotland to date, three of which came in this summer's UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.

Every club is prone to near misses in the transfer market, and McGinn's contribution to the West Midlands side's rise back to the upper echelons of English and European football will leave the Ewood Park faithful with a major sense of, what if?