According to TEAMtalk, Stoke City and West Brom have entered the hunt to recruit Aiden McGinlay, a young player from Queen’s Park.
The 17-year-old has drawn interest from other Championship teams as well; the Daily Record earlier this week revealed that Celtic, the top team in the Scottish Premiership, and Norwich City are also interested in the midfield player.
Before moving to Queen’s Park, Ipswich actually asked the young player for a two-week trial, and they are reportedly still keeping an eye on him in anticipation of a possible summer transfer.
West Brom and Stoke, on the other hand, are reportedly ahead of the competition for the Scotland U17 international, per reports, and they view him as a future first-team player and potential star.
This season, Aiden McGinlay has shown promise for Queen’s Park.
The 17-year-old, who joined Queen’s Park from Partick Thistle, a Scottish team, earlier in the season, has attracted transfer interest despite not having made his first team debut for the Scottish Championship squad.
He is thought to be the most gifted player in Queen’s Park’s academy and has received high praise for his performances for the club’s B team and Under-18 squad.
The Hampden Park-based team is allegedly anticipating interest in the player, but they are eager to lock him down to a professional deal to give themselves some security.
The player has only been at Queen’s Park for less than a year after joining from Partick Thistle; therefore, the club may only ask for a little compensation payment as he hasn’t signed a professional contract at Hampden Park yet.
It makes sense that a number of Championship teams and Celtic are keeping an eye on McGinlay ahead of a possible summer move, given that he hasn’t signed a professional contract and could be available for a reasonable price.
Aiden McGinlay is up against fierce competition from Stoke City and West Brom.
Both Stoke and West Brom will face fierce competition this summer to get a deal over the finish line, even though they are supposedly first in line to sign Aiden McGinlay.
The young player might find Ipswich, who were just promoted to the Premier League, more intriguing. Additionally, the Tractor Boys would have an advantage because they had previously been on trial at Portman Road.
Given that Celtic Park is home to one of Scotland’s largest clubs—the Bhoys—and that McGinlay could like to retain the kid in Scotland, Celtic’s interest in the player will also come as a blow to any English teams who may have been interested.
Although the league West Brom will play in following their play-off run is still unknown, Stoke will play in the Championship, giving them a possible advantage over West Brom in terms of promoting McGinlay to the starting lineup.
McGinlay is more likely to make his first-team debut with a Championship squad than with a Premier League outfit because of their lower caliber and deeper roster.
He and his agents will surely be thinking about this, and it might assist Stoke, or West Brom if they don’t get promoted, in recruiting McGinlay this summer.
