The return to fitness of John McGinn (£5.4m) offers an alternative route into Aston Villa’s attack for Double Gameweek 30+.
But is it worth using the Scottish international to go without Jack Grealish (£6.4m) and save some money? That’s what some Fantasy managers will be asking ahead of Project Restart.
And for anyone looking to invest in a Villa attacking double-up, is McGinn necessarily the right person to compliment Grealish in our squads?
We have performed another deep dive into the data to answer these important questions.
As this article uses large chunks from the Members Area, only those with a valid Fantasy Football Scout subscription can read it in full.
WHAT IS MCGINN’S FITNESS LATEST?
McGinn was last seen on the pitch in Gameweek 18, when he managed just seven minutes of the 3-1 home defeat to Southampton. He was taken off with an ankle injury, which an X-ray confirmed was a fracture.
That kept him out of Dean Smith’s considerations until early March when he returned to full training.
The Villa manager had planned to assess McGinn’s fitness ahead of the Gameweek 30 meeting with Chelsea, suggesting that the international break could be a good time to get him back up to full speed.
“John is back in full contact training with the players. It’s a boost for us and I’ll have to make a decision on whether he is ready to play a part against Chelsea. After the Chelsea game, we have the international break and also a break where we were supposed to be playing Newcastle as well. We will arrange a game for John to play and hopefully, we will see the best of him after the international break.” – Dean Smith, speaking on March 12
However, the coronavirus suspension for the Premier League put paid to McGinn’s chances of a March comeback.
Three months without competitive action will have helped clear up any lasting niggles from the injury for McGinn, but it has also robbed Smith of any chance to build up the player’s match fitness.
The international break he was hoping to use for that was also put on hold and such a long time without full squad training will have also been a stagnating factor in bringing McGinn back up to full speed.
While most of his colleagues last tested themselves in a Premier League match setting in March, McGinn has not done so since mid-December, roughly six months ago now.
Ahead of a Double Gameweek 30+, there are encouraging messages coming out of the Villa camp about McGinn though.
“He (John McGinn) looks back to his normal self. Everyone knows he’s like a little bulldog when he’s on the pitch and he’s certainly been like that in training. I can’t give him enough credit. I know everyone says he runs around and has legs, but he isn’t just about that, he has class about him as well. He’s one of those players you don’t appreciate until you play alongside him, and he’s like that in the changing room as well. Even the first day he came back into training he just gave everyone a lift because he’s such a popular figure in the dressing room, he always puts a smile on everyone’s face at the club.” – Jack Grealish
“Ginny is a great player and he has such an infectious personality that when he isn’t around the team, it does make a big difference. I think he is one of the players who, when they are on the team sheet, it affects the mindset of the opposition. He is certainly one of those players for us because he brings so much on and off the pitch. It will be good to have him back, for sure. We have got quality throughout the team but this period now has allowed players to come back and for teams to perhaps refresh their squad in terms of players that would have missed the season if it had finished on time. I think we are in a fortunate position in that we get John McGinn back. Teams around us will strengthen too.” – Tyrone Mings
WHOSE PLACE WILL HE TAKE?
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