What Hibs are getting in Kyle Magennis and why Jack Ross brought the St Mirren captain to Easter Road

Hibs completed the signing of the St Mirren midfielder on transfer deadline day for a six-figure fee

Kyle Magennis has joined Hibs from St Mirren. Picture: SNS

Kyle Magennis, playing at his best, is the kind of player you want in the centre of the park; in the centre of the game. For such a young, fairly inexperienced player, he carries himself with confidence. He moves the ball quickly. He can muck in defensively. He make things happen in the final third. He has a lot of tools to his arsenal. And, as an added bonus, he's got the kind of leadership skills that convinced his former manager to give him the captain's armband before he'd even turned 22.

Jim Goodwin called Magennis "one of the best midfielders in the country" at the weekend, which is sure to get pulses racing among the Easter Road faithful.

Except, he isn't. At least not at the moment.

It's more likely that Goodwin was saying this to lash out at his own board, as it seems fairly evident the St Mirren boss is not happy his captain is being sold from under him - and for a fee that's unlikely to allow much reinvestment in the playing squad.

Magennis has potential, of that there is no doubt. He just needs to start showing it on a consistent basis and that will be the demand at Easter Road if he's a regular in the starting XI. That's unlikely to happen in the coming weeks as he looks to get back to full fitness following a long injury lay-off and he starts to find his feet at a bigger club. Patience should be preached here. You may accuse this writer of being negative, but believe this: expecting Magennis to come straight into the Hibs team and be "one of the best midfielders in the country" is doing the Scotland under-21 international absolutely no favours whatsoever.

He was excellent in St Mirren's Championship-winning season and there were obviously high hopes seeing as he was only 19 when the Buddies secured their place back in the top flight. Since then it's been a bit of a bumpy road. He's had good games and shown flashes that he was ready to take his play to the next level, it just hasn't quite happened yet.

There have been three factors which have hindered his ability to reach that potential in the top flight: he's played under three managers into two seasons, he's been shunted around the pitch, and he's suffered injury misfortune.

It's quite impressive St Mirren have managed to stay up the past two seasons considering the chaos occuring behind the scenes as they enterred each campaign. In the first year it was the realisation Alan Stubbs - who is rightfully a hero at Easter Road but probably has a court order preventing him from going within 200 feet of St Mirren Park - had signed a huge group of subpar players and alienated a few key members of the Championship-winning squad, which ultimately led to his sacking just a month into the league campaign. Then last year the divorce from Oran Kearney became so protracted that, by the time Goodwin had come in and got himself settled, they had only a couple of days to sign half a dozen players to fill out the squad with the new season looming. This environment is not conducive to a young player taking the next step.

The same goes for the use of Magennis by some of those managers. At his best in the centre of the park as a No.8, he's also played on the right of a midfield four, the right of a front three, defensive midfield, left midfield and, for Scotland, right-back over the past two seasons. Versatiliy is a useful tool for any player to have, but moving a young player around the pitch too much can stunt their development.

At Hibs it's more than likely he'll be used to supplement Joe Newell with an eye on establishing him in a midfield three once he's regained his match sharpness. His secondary position is on the right of midfield, but with Drey Wright and Martin Boyle in the squad there won't be much need for him to be shunted out there.

An aspect of his game Ross commented on earlier in his career was his ability to drive the ball forward through the midfield, something Hibs haven't really had since John McGinn left for Aston Villa. We (obviously) shouldn't get too carried away with those comparisons. McGinn averaged 6.25 dribbles per game with a 62 per cent success rate during his final season at Hibs. Magennis, before his injury last term, had 4.19 attempts at 49.5 per cent. But while he doesn't quite live up to a modern-day legend in this aspect of the game, it's still plenty to work with. Allan Campbell, for instance, only averages around three per 90 minutes for Motherwell.

Ross must be hugely excited by Magennis' potential because five-year deals typically aren't given to players who are coming off an injury lay-off of nine months, especially when he had a serious injury the season prior as well. In all competitions over the past two campaign he played 3705 minues, which is what most players would be aiming for in one.

In short, Hibs have got themselves a rough diamond they'll need to polish, but considering the improvement and/or development of Joe Newell, Ryan Porteous, Paul Hanlon, Kevin Nisbet and Paul McGinn under Ross' tutelage, you wouldn't back against this becoming a very astute bit of business by the Hibs manager, especially in the long-term.

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