Aston Villa correspondent Ashley Preece has made a claim regarding the club’s pending moves for Rangers forward Rory Wilson and Hearts midfielder Ewan Simpson.

The Lowdown: Wilson and Simpson deals

NSWE have already forked out just over £49m on four summer signings ahead of Steven Gerrard’s first full season in charge at Villa Park.

It now looks as if the club are looking to bolster their academy ranks, with sporting director Johan Lange closing in on moves for the aforementioned duo from the Scottish Premiership. Villa look set to pay Rangers £350,000 for Wilson, while midfielder Simpson is set to cost £250,000.

The Latest: Preece’s comments

Preece took to Twitter on Friday evening to say that there is ‘lots happening’ at Villa’s academy.

He revealed that there is ‘a lot of excitement’ regarding the pending moves for Wilson and Simpson, which are set to be announced next week.

The Verdict: Future stars?

Wilson netted 49 goals at youth level last season, while Simpson is widely regarded as a potential star in the making, so it’s no surprise to see excitement within Villa ahead of the moves that they lined up last year.

Wilson is 16 years of age and Simpson will turn 16 next month, so you’d expect that the pair will go straight into the club’s under-18s with a view to breaking into the under-23 setup over time.

We have seen recently with 18-year-old Tim Iroegbunam that academy additions can quickly break into Gerrard’s first-team plans, so these names could be one to keep a close eye upon over the coming years.