John McGinn will eventually join Celtic on a long-term transfer. That is the opinion of their former player and now club ambassador Davie Hay.
The Bhoys have made no bones of their desire to see the Hibernian star play for them, but as yet, no deal has been agreed upon between the two clubs.
Brendan Rodgers has had his eyes set on McGinn all summer and has had three bids turned down by the Edinburgh outfit for the talented midfielder, but it appears the former Liverpool coach is not done with his pursuit of him.
The 23-year-old made the grade at St Mirren before really breaking out at Hibernian in July 2015. He penned a four year deal at Easter Road and is in the final year of the deal.
The midfield ace has gone on to record more than 100 appearances for the Hibs in that time. His form has been such that he has received international honours for Scotland having been capped nine times for them.
Hibernian are hoping that an English club will make a move for their star asset, who featured in the 3-2 win against Asteras Tripolis in the Europa League on Thursday evening, and with it, they will hope that a pile of cash comes along too but Hay does not envision it playing out that way.
“He will be a good acquisition, but midfield isn’t really the top priority at the moment,” the Celtic chief wrote in his column in the Evening Times.
“Because of that, I think that Celtic’s approach has been the right one. It doesn’t seem as if there is too much other interest out there, and I think the boy himself wants to go to Celtic.
“Both sides are entitled to do what is right for them in the negotiations, but I think that Celtic can afford to bide their time and get the player on their own terms. If it isn’t this summer, then the only party that will really lose out is Hibs financially.”
The transfer window closes in under two weeks, so one way or another this saga will draw to a conclusion in the coming days. It will be interesting to see if Rodgers can bring this man to Celtic Park before the deadline day.