The midfield player, who is captain of Aston Villa, is getting ready for this week’s Europa Conference League matchup against Lille. The midfield player has been talking about his preferred destination in the Land of the Rising Sun ahead of time, and Celtic supporters are well aware of his motivations.
His response is mostly shaped by Shunsuke Nakamura, the renowned playmaker for the Hoops. The now 45-year-old wowed with his signature set-pieces and technical prowess throughout his four years at Parkhead, from 2005 to 2009. A legend in Japanese football, he played for the Yokohama Marinos for two stints in addition to stints at Reginna, Espanyol, Jubilo Iwata, and Yokohama FC before retiring.
The top destination on Scotland’s and Aston Villa’s McGinn’s bucket list is Yokohama. With two current first team stars, Daizen Maeda and Tomoki Iwata, having both signed with the J League club, Celtic’s relationship with Marinos is developing.
Earlier in the season, Lennoxtown’s coach Harry Kewell quit to take over as manager of the Japanese team, and Ange Postecoglou moved to Glasgow from a club connected to The City Football Group.
When asked where in Japan he would like to visit, McGinn replied, “Tokyo,” to the Aston Villa Japanese X account. Tokyo and Yokohama have long been on my travel bucket list because Shunsuke Nakamura, one of my all-time favourite Celtics players, was a Yokohama Marinos player. It seems like he retired recently, so Naka, what a player, what a guy, number 25.
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