- Rory Wilson first joined Aston Villa from Rangers’ academy in 2022
- In January 2026, he signed for Austrian side Sturm Graz on loan
- He is regarded as a player with significant potential
Rory Wilson is approaching a pivotal point in his Aston Villa career. At 20, he will now be looking at transitioning from a prolific youth prospect to a consistent senior performer. However, his limited game time at Sturm Graz has derailed his progress.
The season before joining Villa from Rangers’ academy in 2022 for £350,000, he scored 49 goals. There was real excitement that he would develop into an elite-level striker. At the academy level, he certainly proved that. Across the U-18s and U-21s at Villa, he has netted 47 times in 77 appearances, and, at Scotland’s international youth levels, he has scored 15 goals in 22 caps.
Despite a number of injury setbacks, his development has been rapid, and he’s quickly outgrown youth football. With this in mind, both parties agreed in January that a loan move would be the best solution, but it wasn’t before there were contract issues.
Repeated dismissal of new contract proposals
Due to his incredible form in Villa’s academy, and since his initial contract was expiring at the end of the 2024/25 season, talks for a new contract took place at the beginning of 2025. This was to include an increase in wages and the promise of some first-team football.
However, the Villans weren’t prepared to break their academy salary structure, and didn’t see a position for him in the senior squad. But, they still wanted to keep him, due to the risk of letting him go for almost nothing. This caused them to offer a series of five-year contract proposals, which the striker dismissed.
After a few months of stalemate, a breakthrough was finally reached. The new terms were a two-year extension, plus an option of a further 12 months. This would be triggered if he were to be sent out on loan, which Wilson accepted.
Failed loan move to Austria
At the start of the 2025/26 campaign, the Scot was injured, preventing him from departing on loan. When he returned, he had a brief spell back in the U-21s and in Villa’s U-19 side, who were in the UEFA Youth League. In the competition, he scored six goals in five appearances, which included a hat-trick.
Once the January transfer window opened, Wilson was fully fit, and expected to leave on loan. Initially, German side Hoffenheim made an offer, with a €7 million (£6.1 million) option to buy at the end of the season. Villa accepted, but he couldn’t agree on terms, owing to concerns about whether he would earn first-team minutes.
With the deal falling through, Scandinavian and English sides began to circle. Eventually, it was Sturm Graz from the Austrian Bundesliga that agreed on a simple loan deal.
Wilson set off in the hopes of regular game time, but that hasn’t been the case. He has played just 22 minutes in four substitute cameos and made one appearance for their reserve side, Sturm Graz II.
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As the end of the season draws near, Wilson’s future at Villa is uncertain. It is highly likely Unai Emery will evaluate him in pre-season to see if he is capable of a first-team spot, but with Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham, and the recent signing of 17-year-old Brian Madjo, he would be far down the pecking order.
This means another departure would be expected. Villa may decide that another loan move may be best, in order to drive up his value. However, should they receive a reasonable permanent offer with future fees, then they might choose to accept.
Whatever the decision is, this summer is certainly one to keep an eye on for the future of Rory Wilson at Aston Villa.
