Where does James Wilson fit in at Hearts after starring role?

Wilson made his breakthrough as a 17-year-old in the 2024-25 season, scoring six goals across 32 first-team appearances.

Not only did he help stave off a relegation threat, he made his Scotland debut in March 2025 to become his country’s youngest ever player.

That summer, head coach Derek McInnes arrived and Wilson featured heavily in the League Cup group stage. However, as the league started and Hearts began to mount an early title push, the teenager found minutes increasingly hard to come by.

He would only start one league game, a 3-3 draw against Motherwell, and come off the bench a further five times.

Spurs came in on deadline day, beating rivals Arsenal to his signature, and it was perhaps no surprise Wilson’s head was turned.

Wilson would be named on the first-team bench twice but only played under-21 football for Spurs, who did not trigger the option to buy Wilson.

“I’ve seen a lot of people question it at the time, but for me, I got the experience of training with arguably a top-six club in England,” Wilson said of his time in London.

“There’s some world-class players in that training group. Getting to train with the first team, using the facilities and getting the experience of being on the bench – the learning that I got made me a better player.

“So, hopefully I’m coming back here to show that.”