It’s not the first time the former Rangers man has been linked with a move away from Nottingham Forest recently.
A former Rangers sporting director is wanted by Newcastle United to fill that void at St James’ Park, having impressed at Nottingham Forest.
The Toon are bound for the Champions League but are undergoing behind the scenes changes, with Paul Mitchell to leave his sporting director role by the end of June. That has Newcastle scrambling for a replacement with the summer transfer window ongoing and one name that is reportedly on the agenda is Ross Wilson.
He has worked as sporting director at Nottingham Forest since 2023, having operated in that role at Rangers for three and a half years. It is a new exit link surrounding Wilson who was recently touted as an option behind the scenes closer to home at Huddersfield Town.
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Former Rangers transfer chief could leave Nottingham Forest for Newcastle United
According to the Daily Mail, recruitment specialists Nolan Partners are the force leading the search for Newcastle’s new sporting director. It’s further claimed “Wilson and former Arsenal assistant sporting director Jason Ayto are said to be among those who have had contact with Nolans” and “while no decision has been made and there are other names being considered, it is that of Wilson which appears to have some support internally.”
Reporting adds “Crucially, and this is the remit Nolans are working to, he has Premier League experience.” Wilson was a driving force behind transfer business at Rangers during his time at Ibrox and the club twice broke their record transfer sale under his watch through Nathan Patterson and Calvin Bassey. While there were several transfer misses, Wilson did also help bring Nico Raskin to Ibrox as well as Malik Tillman.
How Ross Wilson exit impacted Rangers
Head coach at the time, Michael Beale, discussed in 2023 the severe blow now Nottingham Forest director Wilson’s exit was at Rangers. He said: “He was influential in me coming back in and he's a person that I probably spoke to the most out of anybody at Rangers. Firstly, you're disappointed to lose a good person. Ross was hugely positive in his day-to-day work here at the club and he brought a lot of the departments together.
“His job was to oversee first-team football operations, recruitment, medical, the academy, the women's teams and bring all of that in line. We've seen good success in the time that he was here. I'm disappointed for Rangers that Ross has moved on. But, on a personal level, I'm happy for him and his family that he feels this is a challenge he'd like to take. Having known Ross for as long as I have, I know this isn't the first opportunity to have come his way."
Now Rangers have full restructured their recruitment department again under the new ownership of 49ers Enterprises and Andrew Cavenagh. Kevin Thelwell has arrived as sporting director while Nils Koppen has been replaced as technical director by Dan Purdy, both he and Thelwell coming into Rangers following stints with Everton. Russell Martin is the club’s new head coach.
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