FIFA on stand by over Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox row

Steven Gerrard’s former club are at war with his present employers over Rory Wilson. 

It seems that the swift exit of their former manager has struck on a few raw nerves at Ibrox with no sign of big money offers coming in for Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo or any other first team stars. 

Last month Wilson issued a statement about needing to take his career to the next level, a comment that also jarred the egos inside Ibrox. 

As an amateur signing Wilson was entitled to sign professional terms elsewhere on his 16th birthday with just a UEFA calculated development fee heading back to the Murray Park Academy. 

Picking up on the issue, The Sun report:  

He is set to sign for Aston Villa on July 1 and has agreed terms, but the two clubs are poles apart in valuations and future add-ons and it’s understood Rangers have turned down a final offer from Villa, who are managed by former Ibrox boss Gerrard. 

Wilson remains on an SFA registration form and he is an amateur. Because he would be signing his first professional contract with Villa, there would only be cross-border training compensation due by the Birmingham club, unless the clubs agreed on a fee, which they haven’t. 

Rangers have stated the player is registered until the end of the year, but it is understood that Villa and the player believe current rules are prohibitively restrictive and are confident this would be upheld by FIFA. 

Villa will now seek to register the player and apply for International Transfer Clearance with the English FA which would be automatically rejected by the SFA because Rangers have not accepted a fee and would dispute the player’s registration. 

Wilson has been a regular in the Scotland u-17 team, if his move is blocked by the SFA he won’t be able to play at international level until the Villa move is completed.