Scotland assistant boss Mark McGhee insists the only thing that shocked him about Oliver Burke’s mega-move is that it wasn’t to one of England’s giants.
Burke, who was born in Kirkcaldy, took his place in Scottish football’s history books when his £13 million transfer from Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig was completed last weekend.
McGhee, who boasts a Bundesliga adventure of his own having joined SV Hamburg from Aberdeen in 1984, is backing the 19-year-old to flourish in Germany.
He just feels that one of England’s big guns should have taken a chance on Burke.
McGhee said: “I’m not surprised at the move.
“I’m just surprised that one of the big clubs in England didn’t have a punt on him.
“I think it was obvious for me that one of them should have taken him.
“You think back to Arsenal taking Theo Walcott early on for a fee (Southampton sold him for £5 million in 2006) and I thought Burke was an obvious one to follow that path.
“The big Premier League sides are buying players from abroad and yet there’s one right under their nose that will turn out to be a super player.”
While the English league’s loss may turn out to be the Bundesliga’s gain, Scotland can also benefit greatly from having one of their own facing the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund week in, week out.
McGhee certainly thinks so, adding: “It’s really exciting.
“I’ve not had a long conversation with him but I did say to him that it’s a great move.
“He’ll love it. It’s such a great league and the standards are so high.
“He is also at a club that’s hugely ambitious.
“Not everything will be straightforward, though.
“He said to me that everyone speaks English, but that’s not the case.
“Those immediately around him at the club might speak English but there will be a lot who don’t as it’s the former East Germany.
“So he will benefit from learning the language and it’s a brilliant, brilliant move for him.
“It would seem to me that he’s going there to play.
“He’s not going there to be an investment for the next three years and play in what they would call their amateur team.
“I guess if he had gone to an Arsenal then they would look to develop him and he would be under the radar or so for another 18 months.
“This might bring him forward quicker if he’s playing every week.
“As soon as I saw him I knew he was a player.
“There was something about him – the way he moved, his size, his touch.
“He has that X factor.”
Maybe so but with Scotland fans desperate for their own version of Gareth Bale, McGhee doesn’t want too much pressure put on the Fife-born teenager ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign that starts in Malta on Sunday.
He added: “He can be a great player but we have to be careful.
“The great player I think he will become won’t happen as a result of him playing one game for Leipzig.
“In 18 months’ time I hope he has developed into the player they have invested in.
“There will be ups and downs before he gets to the level I expect him to reach. It won’t happen overnight.
“But for me he has what it takes to be a top player.”
McGhee’s own experience of Germany wasn’t an easy one. He suffered injuries at Hamburg and returned home to Celtic after less than two years.
However, he still saw enough to make him respect and admire their culture and ethos when it comes to football.
He said: “The way they go about their business takes professionalism to another level.
“They are footballers but nothing else distracts them.
“When I went to Germany people asked me: ‘Why do the German club sides such as Bayern or the international side do so well?’
“When I went over I could see why because they were much more committed to what they were doing.
“Even more so than when I was at Aberdeen with a team that was committed to a degree but not at the level the Germans operated at – a level I didn’t know was there.
“My problem was that I was there for 20 months and for all sorts of reasons I left.
“I would have liked to have stayed on and it would have had more of an effect on me but I brought back ideas that helped me later in my career.
“For a young player to go and be influenced by the regimes over there and to learn the attitudes they adopt towards games and training is fantastic.
“I don’t know Oliver well enough as a lad, but he seems a calm boy and focused He doesn’t seem as if he’ll go there and go off the rails.
“He’s the sort of lad who will embrace it and you can see in his eyes he’s excited by it and I hope he sticks with it.”
Burke himself is relishing the opportunity given him by Leipzig, calling their set-up “five-star.”
He said: “I believe the Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world, just from what I’ve seen on TV.
“I think the style of play will really suit me.
“Leipzig have shown me a few clips of them playing and their style suits me perfectly.
“I really couldn’t turn it down.
“The facilities are top notch – five star!
“I couldn’t say anything bad about the club.
“They are really kind and have treated me like a real gem which is a privilege and I’m really happy to have signed for them.”
