Aston Villa captain John McGinn signs a new contract and targets more years of seeing off ‘younger models’

Aston Villa captain John McGinn has committed his future to the club, signing a new contract that will keep him at Villa Park until the summer of 2028.

Villa rebuffed summer transfer window interest from Everton and Newcastle United. McGinn, who turned 31 last month, was instrumental in the team’s recovery from a bad start to the 2025/26 season.

The Scotland international has been a central leadership figure since joining Villa in 2018 and is considered one of the senior players most essential when it comes to driving standards at Bodymoor Heath. His impact on the pitch is beyond question.

Villa announced McGinn’s new contract in advance of his 300th appearance off the bench in their Europa League league phase win against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park on Thursday.

He’s captained Villa under successive managers and his new deal increases the chances that his next move will be back to Scotland rather than another Premier League club. St Mirren and Hibernian would both have him back in a heartbeat but the emotional pull of Celtic is understood to be a significant motivator for what comes next.

‘That wee bit more determined’

In an interview with Ben Fisher for The Guardian, McGinn reflected on an ongoing battle for his place in the Villa team.

“When you come down from Scotland,” he said, “you always have a point to prove. You always feel like: ‘Can I compete?’ Each year I’ll have the same challenge, I’ll have someone younger or sexier, with a longer name or someone who has signed for £50m, but it just makes you that wee bit more determined to prove your worth.”

Asked about the big moments and opportunities Villa have had to take the next step in the past half a decade, McGinn admitted that the team has fallen short.

“They were big nights, big moments for us in which we haven’t delivered,” he said.

“Every time we go into a big game now we have that determination in the back of our heads to prove this team we have built over the past five or six years is worth more than a quarter-final, worth more than a semi-final.

“The determination, I can feel it this year. I can feel we want to prove a point. I think until we do that there will always be questions. As captain you feel that probably twice as much but when that day finally comes you will feel it positively, twice as much.”

McGinn’s Villa career in numbers

Villa’s captain joined the club at the start of the 2018/19 season and is now in his eighth season in B6.

He played 40 times for the club in the Championship and has since added 213 appearances in the Premier League.

All in, McGinn has now played 300 times for Villa, more than double his games for Hibernian and more than treble the amount he played for St Mirren.

He’s scored 33 goals for Villa including 18 in the Premier League and one glorious, ridiculous, scruffy Wembley winner to help them get there in the first place.

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