Aidan Borland is on the brink of a first-team breakthrough at Aston Villa after impressing in the academy ranks
18:17, 30 Mar 2025
(Image: Getty Images)
Rising star Aidan Borland reportedly left Celtic for Aston Villa after being left out of a clash with Rangers.
The 16-year-old brought the curtain down on his time in the Lennoxtown academy ranks in August 2023 as he made the switch to the Premier League side.
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The Athletic claim that Villa scouts "became enamoured" with the midfielder - with Celtic becoming "aware of the admiration."
It is claimed that this led to Borland being "left out of a match against arch-rivals Rangers" - having not yet made his top team debut for the Premiership giants - which "proved to be the decisive factor in persuading" the boyhood Hoops' fan to swap Glasgow for the Midlands.
The Hoops landed received a £300k development fee when Borland made his exit, which could reportedly rise to over £1million in future add-ons - but that now appears to be just a fraction of what the talent could be worth in the future.
Just a year on from leaving Celtic Park, Borland penned his first professional contract aged 17 - having already been promoted to the under-21 set-up at Villla Park.
At the time, Villa academy manager Mark Harrison said: “We’ve been really pleased with his progress which has seen him become a regular in our U21 team at the age of 16.
Aidan Borland
“He is an intelligent, hard-working, technically efficient midfielder with the ability to score from long range. We look forward to working with him over the next few years and seeing how he progresses.”
Unai Emery called up Aidan Borland to first-team pre-season training at Bodymoor Heath last summer alongside top talents like Scotland international John McGinn.
Borland has featured regularly for Villa Under-18 side this season and they are also in the FA Youth Cup semi-final where they are set to face Manchester United’s development side on Monday.
He has captained the academy side in the UEFA Youth League - and made his first-team debut in September as he came off the bench to help his side to a 2-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup.
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