Bolton welcome England and DR Congo winger Samuel Iling-Junior on season-long loan

Bolton Wanderers have signed England and DR Congo winger Samuel Iling-Junior from Aston Villa on loan, adding the 22-year-old to their squad for the 2026-27 season.

Iling-Junior’s move to the Championship club was completed on 14 August and runs until 31 May 2027. He returns to Aston Villa at the end of the loan, with the agreement recorded as a temporary transfer rather than a permanent move.

The London-born left winger spent the second half of the 2025-26 campaign at Pisa after initially joining West Bromwich Albion on loan from Villa. His spell at Pisa ended on 30 June, when he returned to Aston Villa before making the switch to Bolton.

Iling-Junior joined Aston Villa from Juventus in July 2024 in a permanent transfer. He had spent the previous part of his career in Italy after leaving Chelsea’s academy for Juventus Under-19s in 2020.

He moved through Juventus’ system before progressing to the club’s Next Gen side and then the senior team. During his time in Italy, Iling-Junior won the Italian Cup twice, with Juventus in 2023-24 and Bologna in 2024-25 during a loan spell.

The winger has also collected international honours with England. He was part of the England Under-19 side that won the European Under-19 Championship in 2022, before helping the Under-21 team claim the European title in 2025.

Iling-Junior is primarily a left winger and favours his left foot. He is 1.82m tall and joins Bolton with his Aston Villa contract running until 31 May 2027.

His career has included loan spells with Bologna, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and Pisa since joining Aston Villa. The move to Bolton represents his latest temporary switch and places him at a Championship club for the 2026-27 season.

Bolton Wanderers have completed the loan signing of Samuel Iling-Junior from Aston Villa until 31 May 2027.