Graeme Shinnie didn’t quite have the same impact as John McGinn when he ventured down south.
After his first spell at Aberdeen, the midfielder signed for Derby County on a free transfer and did well, a regular as the Rams tried to push for promotion to the Premier League.
Derby fans nicknamed him the ‘Scottish Pirlo’ to add to the ‘Shinniesta’ moniker he has up here.
He would move onto Wigan for a short spell before eventually returning to Scotland with the Dons, initially on loan before making it permanent, in 2023.
Shinnie is a hero at Aberdeen and fondly remembered at Derby, but he hasn’t quite had the career of Aston Villa captain John McGinn, starring in the Champions League and one of Scotland’s all-time leading international goalscorers.
But that hasn’t stopped a comparison being made between the two.
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Adam Rooney draws Shinnie and McGinn comparisons
Adam Rooney was a teammate of Shinnie’s during his first Aberdeen spell, both part of the successful Derek McInnes team that won a League Cup and finished second in the Premiership more than once.
The 33-year-old is in line for his 600th club appearance for the Pittodrie club when they face Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup this weekend.
And Rooney insists he is their very own McGinn because of similarities in “work rate and desire.”
He told the Daily Record: “600 games is unbelievable especially when you look at the health issues he has. To go on and reach that many games is amazing and especially when you consider how many miles he does in a game and over the course of his career.
“Graeme is a bit like John McGinn to an extent. He was always a decent player in Scotland but look at the career he has gone on to have.
“His work rate and desire has taken his career to another level and Graeme is exactly the same. They are the type of players who are vital to any team being a success.”
Are Shinnie’s Aberdeen powers on the wane?
Michael Stewart has previously doubted Shinnie’s capabilities in the middle of the park as he approaches his mid-30s.
The pundit claimed the Aberdeen skipper’s legs are “gone”, along with midfielder partner Sivert Nilsen.
He said: “The big concern I’ve got for Aberdeen – and to be honest, I’ve had it for quite a while – I was never sure whether Nilsen was a positive or a negative.
“And more and more so now, him and Shinnie in the middle of the park, they’re gone. The two of them together. They need extra bodies in there.
“Polvara, unfortunately, is out injured again. But Palaversa, really good football player, but you’re trying to find the right balance and combination in the middle of the park.
“And I’ll be honest, I don’t think Nilsen is what I’m wanting in there – I think they need something else.
“He’s (Shinnie) getting to a stage in his career where his legs are not what they’re used to being. I’m meaning the combination of those two together, I don’t think that’s a great combination.
“When you see that second goal that we’re talking about, not only are the full-backs high, but the distance between the centre-halves and the two central midfielders is ginormous! It’s about 40 or 50 yards of a gap.
“You can’t allow your team to be that disjointed and to a degree, the energy in the middle of the park has dropped massively and you need to reinvigorate that somehow.”