Hearts have given their supporters some good news after signing James Wilson on a new deal.
The 17-year-old scored his first European goal during the disappointing draw with Petrocub on Thursday and became the Conference League’s youngest ever scorer.
He was wanted by a host of English Premier League clubs previously but had expressed a desire to stay at Hearts and work towards first-team football.
He has had a glimpse of that this season, mostly from the bench but also with two starts. Wilson has three goals in that time.
His contract was due to expire in the summer of 2025 but the Tynecastle club did hold an extra option and have now taken that up.
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What Neil Critchley said about Wilson’s Hearts contract
Hearts boss Neil Critchley has a reputation for improving young players and is delighted to tie down an academy talent.
Critchley said: “It’s great news that James’ contract has been extended and it is fully merited.
“He’s made a big impact in the first team squad this season and has already scored some important goals.
“It is especially pleasing that James has come through our youth system and credit has to go to our academy coaching staff for guiding him to the point of being ready for top level football.
“James shows a willingness to learn and improve on the training pitch every day. We’re delighted he’ll continue his development at Hearts and hopefully he can keep giving the supporters some big moments to cheer in the future.”
What Wilson previously said about Man Utd and Aston Villa interest
Wilson is a very highly-rated young player who has captained Scotland at youth level.
His talents have attracted a host of scouts with Manchester United and Aston Villa named as being interested, with the list believed to be a lot longer.
He has been vindicated by his decision to stay at Tynecastle as he gets first-team chances and already has three goals to his name.
The highlight so far has been the equalising goal in an Edinburgh derby against Hibs, earning Hearts a late goal to the acclaim of the support.
After that game, he was quizzed on his future and interest from England.
And Wilson said: “Yeah, I hope to stay here. I hope to keep playing well. Whatever happens, happens.
“Ultimately, if I went down south, I don’t know where I’d be at the moment. I could be playing under-18 football down there, so I’m just trying to prove there’s another option. You dream of moment like that goal. That’s what I wanted to do the night before.
“I wanted to come on and score… score a better goal than that! But no, I wanted to score. It was brilliant. Then I wanted to get the winner. I wanted to go and win the game. More senior boys told me to slow the game down a bit and just relax. Yeah, I was just buzzing to score, to be honest.”