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Aston Villa ace John McGinn: I was so close to quitting UK for Houston Dynamo

Aston Villa ace John McGinn admits he almost threw away his British career to move to the USA and play in the MLS.

McGinn has revealed how a move to MLS side Houston Dynamo collapsed due to a paperwork snag before eventually signing for Hibs in the summer of 2015.

"It was a difficult one," McGinn told Villa TV. "I was out of contract but St Mirren were due training compensation and rightly so but, at that point, it was £250,000-plus because I had been there since I was seven years of age.

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"So, at that point, it came to the stage where both parties agreed it was best I moved on for a number of reasons but no-one would pay the compensation fee. At that point, you're thinking, 'Ah! What do I do?'.

"You're then hoping St Mirren agree something cheaper which wasn't something they were keen to do. I then tried something different and went over to America where I could have went for free to Houston Dynamo.

"It would have been a massive step for me at the time because I was still young. But I agreed to sign and agreed the contract but red tape stopped it. I don't know if that was a sign... But, at that point, if you would have told me I would have been a Premier League player at Aston Villa it would have been surreal.

"It's been an amazing journey and one I don't want to stop here."

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Paul Vegas

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