Former Scotland international Steven Thompson says that Sunderland were very close to snapping up John McGinn during David Moyes' time in charge at the Stadium of Light.

McGinn is currently turning on the style in midfield for Neil Lennon's Hibernian and the Easter Road outfit are expected to have a tough time keeping hold of him in the summer.




Celtic have regularly been linked with McGinn, while Moyes' current club West Ham United are also mooted to be keen on the 23-year-old.

And news of the Hammers' interest in the Scotland international comes as no surprise to Thompson, who says that Moyes was close to taking McGinn to Sunderland.
 


He said on BBC Scotland Sportscene Extra, reacting to claims of West Ham's interest: "Moyes fancied him at Sunderland.

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"When Moyes was at Sunderland I think that deal might have been quite close to going through, before he got the sack. [Ed. Moyes resigned from his job at Sunderland]."

McGinn, just 23 years old, has been mooted as Celtic's preferred successor to Scott Brown and the two midfielders are regularly compared.

Thompson played with McGinn at St Mirren; McGinn joined Hibernian in 2015.