Aston Villa have a diamond emerging through their academy and he could become Ollie Watkins’ successor.
Watkins has firmly established himself as one of the best strikers in the Premier League under the stewardship of Unai Emery.
The former Brentford man has come on leaps and bounds since his arrival in November 2022 and is among the division’s top scorers.
The 28-year-old has netted 19 league goals this term and is the leading assist maker with 12, two clear of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
With that, Wakins has been linked with a move away from Villa Park and if that does materialise, Villa have a ready-made successor on their books.
Rory Wilson could be Ollie Watkins’ successor
The Villans have always given young talent a platform to perform, as evinced with Jacob Ramsey, who graduated through the academy.
It seems they have another starlet ready to make the grade in Rory Wilson, who has been tearing it up since arriving from Rangers in 2022.
Wilson, who has been dubbed a ‘wonderkid’, will be a familiar name to many Villa fans for his terrific goal record at the under-18s level. The 2006-born has netted a whopping 27 goals in just 25 outings.
This term, despite only celebrating his 18th birthday in January, he stepped up to under-21s football and has three goals to his name in the Premier League 2, taking his tally to 19 for the season.
Should he continue his prolific record with the reverses, a first-team call-up won’t be too far away, particularly with the club likely competing across four competitions next term.
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Rory Wilson hailed by Scotland coach
Wilson has already racked up a few appearances for Scotland’s under-21s and an under-17 coach for the national team, Brian Mclaughlin, has tipped him for a bright future.
“Rory came in aged 12,” Mclaughlin said. “You could see the signs and he took things in working alongside James Grady (Scotland Under-16 coach).
“First year he was a very slow burner, second year a little bit better, third year he started doing his habits. I think he is potentially one of the best strikers at his age in Europe.
“I took him on the 17s campaign there, but he can go again next year. I don’t think anyone realised how young that team was.”