Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565

Tynecastle coach Neil Critchley discusses the teenager’s progress

Instinct tells you everything about a striker. Whether a skinny 16-year-old or a mid-30s veteran, they either have a natural intuition to score goals or they don’t. James Wilson certainly has. At 17, his predatory finishing around the penalty box is already evidence of a forward with an inborn talent.

Hearts fast-tracked Wilson through the Riccarton youth academy and into the first team aged 16 knowing he had the ability to cope and develop further at senior level. He is now an established member of the squad and leading the attack under head coach Neil Critchley. A new striker is high on Hearts’ priority list for the January transfer window, but Wilson will not be returned to the B team.

Any new recruit will be signed to ease the workload of a kid who is still studying for Highers in his own time. The Tynecastle hierarchy recently extended Wilson’s contract until 2026 and want to keep him as long as possible. He has already claimed a dramatic Edinburgh derby equaliser, is the youngest goalscorer in the UEFA Conference League following last week’s strike against Petrocub, and captained Scotland at youth level. He will only improve in the months and years ahead.

A driven first-time finish into the St Johnstone net on Sunday underlined the teenager’s scoring instinct. A marginal offside call denied him what would have been a fourth goal in 10 Hearts appearances this term, but the act of finding the net appears to come naturally. All three goals so far were one-touch finishes, likewise the one disallowed. We are, it seems, witnessing the evolution of a generational talent in maroon.

Wilson is more than just snapshot finishing, though. He is also movement, pace and intelligence. His slender frame means physicality is not one of his stronger attributes, but his understanding of the game is such that he knows when to engage with brute-like centre-backs and when to avoid them. Hearts were criticised for years for not producing top-level strikers, so this lad’s emergence is somewhat overdue.

It is important to mention that he should not be overburdened with responsibility. Critchley understands the potential at his disposal and is conscious about not exposing Wilson to too much too young. It is a situation he encountered many times in previous youth coaching roles at Liverpool and Crewe Alexandra. “Yes, you're right, we've got to get that balance right,” said the Englishman.

“I like to think, given my experience with coaching and developing young players, I can help him during this period in his career. Sometimes with young players you've just got to let them go if they're ready, but you have to know the time also. You can see when they might just dip a little bit and you take them out of the firing line. You rest them and they come back again. You obviously try and do that before it gets to that point. But James, he's got a real level head, he wants to learn, he wants to improve and he's got so much to do. He's a baby, he's only 17, but he's got a bright future.”

“On Sunday, I think there was one in the first half where he touched the ball around the goalkeeper early on and then squared it. That was his only real chance in the game. There was the one where he drove the ball through someone's legs and into the bottom corner. It was a great strike and, obviously, you're thinking that was the second goal that would give us a cushion. It was a terrific strike and I'm so disappointed to see it chalked off because it's always great to see a striker, but particularly a young player like James, get a goal.”

Perhaps it will simply motivate Wilson more for forthcoming challenges. Critchley would be mad not to start the teenager as his main striker in the Boxing Day Edinburgh derby against Hibs. The manager has no fear over using Hearts’ young players. “No, none at all. I think they've got a really good temperament for the game,” said Critchley, who has given starts to Wilson and fellow teenagers Macaulay Tait and Adam Forrester in the last week.

“Youthful exuberance sometimes overrides fear or anxiety or doubt, and they just go and play the game because they've not had those negative experiences in their career. I thought they were fantastic against St Johnstone. They are a real credit to our academy and I was delighted with them, but I was delighted with the team.”

Wilson held talks with Manchester United and Leeds United, and was also wanted by Celtic and Rangers, before signing his first professional contract with Hearts in 2023. Comparing the youngster to the prodigious talents he worked with in England, Critchley offers fulsome praise. “Yes, I have worked with some very good strikers and attacking players in my time at Liverpool and at Crewe. We had some really good young ones,” he recalled.

“I've seen players get chances at 17 and 18 years of age. One of the things that gives them the best chance is their mentality. Are they coachable? Are they learners? Do they want to learn? What's their mentality like? James has got all of those characteristics, he's got all those qualities, so we're delighted he's here. He had a contract extension last week, but I can assure you we'll keep his feet on the ground as well.

“Some of the players I worked with were more like wingers - Harry Wilson, Ryan Kent, Sergi Canos. We had Ben Woodburn, too. Jerome Sinclair was a very good player, he got his debut at 16. So there are guys who went on and on. There are some really good ones. One of the best ever I had was at Crewe, a boy called Nick Powell [now at Stockport County]. He was 18 and got sold to Manchester United for £3m. He should have gone and done better in my opinion, because the boy had everything.”

James Wilson's Hearts rise hints at EPL talent at Liverpool and Man Utd level