Rangers ‘actively exploring’ transfer move for Aston Villa striker as they could raid Unai Emery’s club twice
Rangers are weighing up a double swoop on Aston Villa this summer, with reports suggesting the Ibrox club could move for two separate players from Unai Emery’s Premier League side before the transfer window shuts. The interest comes at a difficult moment for Rangers, who have endured a winless start to the new season across their opening four matches — a run of results that has intensified scrutiny on Derek McInnes and increased the pressure to strengthen the squad before the deadline arrives
One of the two names being linked with a move to Glasgow is Aston Villa right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic. He has been floated as a possible answer to what’s been described as a shortage of options at the back for McInnes, whose defensive options have been stretched thin heading into the new campaign. Rangers’ interest in bolstering that specific area of the pitch has taken on added significance following news that Villa forward Youssef Chermiti has suffered an ACL injury — a fresh blow for Villa that will keep him out of action for what’s been described as a significant period, and one that inevitably shapes the dynamics of any negotiation between the two clubs, since a weakened Villa squad may be more open to discussing outgoing deals in order to fund replacements of their own.
The second name under consideration is a more sentimental one for Rangers supporters. Rory Wilson came through the Rangers academy as a boy before making the move south to Aston Villa, lured by the pull of Premier League football. That transfer happened four years ago, when Wilson was just 16 years old, with then-Rangers manager Steven Gerrard reportedly playing a key role in persuading the striker that a move to England was the right step for his development.
Since leaving Ibrox, Wilson has continued to progress through Aston Villa’s ranks. Last season he had his first taste of senior, first-team football away from Villa Park, spending time on loan at Austrian side Sturm Graz — an experience widely seen as an important step in his development after years of scoring goals at academy level without regular senior minutes. That loan spell appears to have strengthened his profile enough that a return to Scotland is now being seriously discussed.
According to a report from TEAMtalk, Rangers are keen to add another young striker to their ranks before the transfer deadline closes, and Wilson is understood to be one of the names under active consideration. The report states that Rangers are among a number of clubs who have made contact with Aston Villa regarding a potential deal for the Scotland Under-21 international, and that a return to Glasgow is said to hold genuine appeal for the player himself.
Rather than a straightforward permanent transfer, the structure being explored is understood to involve a loan move, potentially with an option to buy attached further down the line — an arrangement that would allow Rangers to bring Wilson back into the fold without committing to a full transfer fee up front, while giving Aston Villa the flexibility to assess how his development continues before deciding on a permanent sale.
Wilson and Nedeljkovic aren’t the only names Rangers have looked at as they continue to assess their attacking options. The same TEAMtalk report confirms that Rangers made contact with Sheffield United regarding forward Ryan One, though that approach was turned down by the Blades. That rebuffed enquiry is a reminder that not every move a club explores in a transfer window comes to fruition — clubs routinely test the market on multiple fronts simultaneously, gauging willingness to sell before deciding where to concentrate their efforts. With the Sheffield United route closed off, at least for now, a reunion with Wilson appears to be one of the options Rangers are most actively pursuing as the deadline approaches.
To understand why Rangers are looking to bring in further attacking reinforcements, it’s worth considering their present options up front. Lawrence Shankland currently captains the side in attack, and he has been the focal point of the team’s forward line so far this season. Alongside him, Ryan Naderi has been seeing regular minutes as the campaign has progressed, giving McInnes at least some rotation in the final third. Bojan Miovski also remains an option available to the manager. However, with Chermiti’s Villa injury underlining just how quickly a squad’s depth can be tested by a single fitness setback, and with Rangers themselves not immune to similar issues, adding further quality and depth up front appears to be a genuine priority for the Ibrox hierarchy — hence the willingness to explore both the Wilson and Nedeljkovic situations at once.
None of this transfer activity is happening in a vacuum. Rangers’ winless start to the league season has already created a difficult atmosphere around the club, compounded further by a Europa League exit that has left supporters frustrated. Reaction from Ibrox in the aftermath of that European elimination reportedly included audible frustration from the stands, an indication of how quickly patience can wear thin when results on the pitch don’t match the investment and expectation surrounding a club of Rangers’ stature.
In that context, transfer business takes on outsized importance. A club under pressure from its own supporters often looks to the transfer market not just to fill genuine gaps in the squad, but to send a signal that the hierarchy is taking action in response to poor form. Whether moves for Nedeljkovic and Wilson would be enough to ease that pressure depends heavily on how they’re perceived by supporters — a homegrown academy product returning to the club carries an emotional resonance that a more straightforward market signing might not, which may partly explain why the Wilson storyline in particular has generated significant attention.
There’s also a broader narrative element to a potential Wilson deal that’s worth drawing out. Academy graduates who leave a boyhood or formative club for a bigger league, only to return years later once they’ve gained senior experience elsewhere, are a familiar story in football — and one that often carries considerable weight with supporters. Wilson’s departure at 16 was, by his own club’s admission at the time, driven by the pull of Premier League opportunity, facilitated by a manager, in Gerrard, who has since left both Rangers and Aston Villa’s orbit entirely. That the move is now being discussed in reverse — with Rangers reportedly the more willing party this time, and Wilson said to be receptive to a return — adds a layer of symmetry to the story that goes beyond simple squad-building logic.
Whether or not that sentimental dimension factors into Rangers’ actual decision-making, it’s likely to shape how any eventual deal, if completed, is received inside Ibrox. A loan-with-option-to-buy structure would also allow both clubs a level of built-in flexibility: Rangers get to assess whether Wilson, now several years removed from his departure and with senior football under his belt, is ready to contribute at first-team level in Scotland, while Villa retain some financial upside if he goes on to succeed and a permanent transfer is triggered later.
As it stands, Rangers’ interest in both Nedeljkovic and Wilson is described as “actively exploring” rather than anything more advanced, and the Sheffield United approach for Ryan One demonstrates that not every line of enquiry results in a deal. With the transfer deadline approaching, McInnes and the Ibrox recruitment team appear to be casting a wide net, testing multiple avenues — a right-back to shore up defensive options, a young striker with existing ties to the club, and other forwards further afield — as they look to arrest a difficult start to the season and respond to the pressure building around Ibrox following the club’s Europa League elimination.
For now, supporters will be watching closely to see which, if any, of these enquiries progress into formal offers, and whether Chermiti’s injury at Villa Park ends up being the catalyst that makes a Nedeljkovic deal more achievable, or whether Wilson’s own preference to return to Glasgow proves decisive in getting a loan agreement over the line before the window closes.
