Alex Ferguson has advised Manchester United to sign this Premier League player – report

Alex Ferguson has advised Manchester United to sign Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, claim The Sun.

The legendary former United manager is a director at Old Trafford and is attempting to use his considerable influence to persuade Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to acquire his fellow Scot.

Ferguson, who is friends with McGinn’s grandfather Jack, believes the 24-year-old’s drive and energy would strengthen United’s midfield.

However, Villa will demand £50m for a player who was instrumental to their successful promotion push last season.

McGinn scored the crucial second goal in the Villans’ 2-1 defeat of Derby in the Championship play-off final, while he also found the net six times in the regular league campaign.

Ferguson would love to see the former Hibernian man plying his trade in Manchester next term, but Sean Longstaff, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Bruno Fernandes all appear to be higher up United’s wish list.

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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).