What’s next for Aston Villa’s Rory Wilson?

Rory Wilson’s fledgling career can be characterised as two chapters.

The first is goals. Wilson scored 49 of them at youth level the season before he moved from Rangers to Aston Villa as a 16-year-old in 2022, in a deal which was worth an initial £350,000 with add-ons potentially increasing to £1million.

In the intervening period across Villa’s under-18s and under-21s, Wilson scored 36 times in 53 appearances. At scholarship level especially, his record was exceptional — in the 2023-24 campaign, Wilson averaged a goal every 64 minutes, netting 16 in 13 games.

The second chapter intertwines misfortune and impasses. Yet to make a senior Villa appearance, despite the promise and noise, the 20-year-old has played just over 1200 minutes across two seasons and only 23 minutes of first-team football.

The last six months have been a continuation of that theme. He joined five-time Austrian champions, Sturm Graz, in February. For a player sporadically training under Unai Emery, it was an eye-catching loan. They had competed in the Champions League a season earlier.

Welcome to Graz, Rory #Wilson! 📝 #sturmgraz #inundaut pic.twitter.com/zoWrHUBmog

— SK Sturm Graz (@SKSturm) February 6, 2026

Playing time proved scant, however. From his loan club’s viewpoint, they admired Wilson’s efforts in their push for a sixth league title, ultimately falling two points short to LASK, who have another Villa loanee in Modou Keba Cisse starring in their backline. 

“We followed Rory for a long time as we were in touch for the first time in the winter of 2025,” Sturm’s sporting director, Michael Parensen, tells The Athletic. “We followed his performances and always had an eye on his abilities, like scoring goals and being good in the box. We wanted to add extra quality into the team this winter because we had problems scoring goals and we didn’t have presence in the opponent’s box.

“We wanted to give the coach another opportunity when it came to playing style. That was why we picked Rory. We have a lot of powerful sprinter striker-type profiles, so we wanted to add other qualities.”

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Heading into the winter window, the Scotland youth international had several clubs abroad interested. Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim made an approach, offering a six-month loan with a €7m buy option. While Villa pushed for Wilson to accept, he could not agree terms, owing to concerns about first-team exposure.

A loan to Sturm was finalised, whereby they would cover a large percentage of Wilson’s salary on top of the £150,000 loan fee. 

To complicate the initial adjustment, Wilson was not able to feature in a matchday squad for a further two weeks due to work permit delays.

“It was a mix of data and agent,” says Parensen, who joined Sturm in November 2024. “We were checking the bigger clubs in England for taking players on loan. We always scan the squads with video and data, checking the young players in Premier League 2. His agent had players here before, so he could tell Rory about how the club is working, how the league is and what Austrian life is like.”

A loan felt overdue. His future had been regularly discussed for 18 months before belatedly signing a new contract in April 2025 after fraught negotiations.

Wilson was entering his final 12 months, with Villa proposing a series of five-year contracts, all of which were dismissed. Negotiations were shelved, leading to an impasse and stunting Wilson’s development, who was recovering from keyhole ankle surgery which was worse than first thought. Rangers were seriously interested in resigning him.

In the end, Villa did not want to lose a player who held the potential to be a future asset for a training compensation fee. Wilson signed a two-year contract with a further 12 months triggered if he left on loan.

Wilson remained a significant earner, comfortably into five figures per week before bonuses. This made it difficult for any future suitor who wanted him permanently and the move to Sturm came at a good time.

Regrettably, Wilson was limited to four substitute appearances, equating to 23 minutes, from a possible 15 games and he failed to score.

From a timing and tactical perspective, his arrival was unfortunate, with Sturm Graz pushing for the league. Wilson, as a young loanee barely acclimatised to Sturm Graz’s high-pressing system, was not the ideal fit.

This was exacerbated by head coach Fabio Ingolitsch, still getting his feet under the table after joining two months before Wilson, switching to a different variance of wing-back system. Rather than operate with a single No 10 and two strikers, Ingolitsch flipped, using two attacking midfielders and a single forward.

“It was tough for Rory, because we signed him on the last day of the window, and he came here, trained for the first time without sleep because there was a flight delay,” says Parensen. “It was not easy. He needed a few days to adapt to the intensity, because Austrian football is not that technical, but it’s really intense with a lot of pressing and running.

“After one week, he showed exactly what we expected. He was clean with his finishing and good with his first touch. He did all he was asked to do and gained some muscle, because we had a programme for him to be stronger.”

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Villa’s loans department queried Wilson’s lack of minutes — Parensen was aware of how Wilson’s progress would be perceived. He emailed Villa’s director of football, Damian Vidagany, during an international break, providing feedback. Within the email, he explained the reasoning and extenuating factors, plus his training data and it was to highlight their admiration for Wilson.

“My impressions of his character and attitude were very good,” says Parensen. “He’s not outgoing in terms of making jokes and stuff like that, but he’s confident. Coming abroad is not easy — the different culture and people — but he always spoke to everybody and was hardworking.

“He did everything we asked. When he was asked to do extra metres to make up for not playing, he did. After training, he would help move the goals and pick up the equipment. He never gave up.”

Parensen echoes the same sentiment as the player and Villa when it comes to next season’s plans.

“We are looking for a taller striker, more comfortable playing with his back to the opponent and supporting our other quick strikers to gain some space,” says Parensen. “So, at the moment, no (on Wilson returning), but he proved he can play on this level and that he is a goalscorer in training.

“He’s young and needs to play. Right now, he can be a starting striker in the smaller leagues, but he needs a club viewing him as their No 1. With playing time and scoring at senior level, he will gain confidence and be a very good player, maybe one day for teams in the Premier League.”