Aston Villa in pole position to sign Aidan Borland, mooted Celtic transfer deal including add-ons
Aston Villa are closing in on the signing of young Celtic midfielder Aidan Borland, according to the Daily Record.
The Scottish newspaper reported via their website on 29 March that while Celtic have offered professional terms to the 15-year-old, it is understood that he’s likely to head to the West Midlands.
The Daily Record adds that Celtic will be owed compensation but Aston Villa will reportedly try to “strike a deal which will include future add-ons”.
Borland will celebrate his 16th birthday next month and is described as a “rising star” and a “talented teenager” at Celtic Park by journalist Scott Burns.
He’ll be the latest Scottish youngster to head to Villa Park with the Birmingham-based club signing Rory Wilson from Rangers and Kerr Smith from Dundee United last year.
Whether it’s Steven Gerrard’s influence at Villa Park or whether it’s a recruitment strategy that’s been brought on by Brexit, we’ll never know for sure.
However, it does seem likely to be the latter because signing young players from overseas has certainly been made tougher by the UK leaving the European Union.
Whether it’s a benefit or not depends on which side of the fence you sit on, but it’s likely that Brexit will cause clubs like Aston Villa to nurture British talent way more.
While that means there’ll be fewer youngsters arriving from Europe and beyond, it means that the Villans are certainly ramping up their scouting efforts in Scotland.
But they’re not alone.
Celtic have also lost Ben Doak (Liverpool), Frankie Deane (Burnley) and Rory Mahaday (Leeds) in the last 12 months and it looks as though Borland can soon be added to that list.
Nathan Patterson (Everton), Brian Kinnear (West Ham), Nicky Hogarth (Nottingham Forest) and Dapo Mebude (Watford) have also left Rangers over the last couple of years.
Scottish talent is fleeing across the border to England, where facilities and coaching standards are no doubt higher due to the increased amount of money in the game here.
Borland’s seemingly ready to reject professional terms at Celtic and play on a scholarship deal at Villa Park for another 12 months due to the lure of English football.
Aston Villa can continue to make the most out of the gulf between English and Scottish football but fans will eventually want to see results.
In other Aston Villa news, a game-changing signing is on the cards at Villa Park this summer amid speculation of a big-name transfer.