Scotland assistant Peter Grant has described on loan Celtic attacker Oliver Burke as the “perfect footballer”.
He says that everybody that he speaks to claims that the 21-year-old star “has all of the tools”, but admitted that that the best still needs to be brought out of the young flyer – and said that there is no point in playing him if Scotland do not play in a certain style.
Grant adds that everybody is desperate for Burke to do well, and although there were frustrations with him at under-21 level, he still believes he was excellent at times.
“We’re all desperate for Oli to do well. Everybody you speak to says he has all the tools. Now we need to work out how we get the best out of him. It’s no use picking Oli Burke if we’re not going to play a certain style or a certain way,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“He’s the perfect example of a footballer, size-wise and pace-wise. I would call him a modern-day carve-out. It’s now about getting that game time, something I feel he has missed out on.
“The next level is a bit different and you can understand Gordon [Strachan]’s frustration with him when he was called up a couple of years ago. We had those frustrations with the Under-21s too, although he was terrific at times.”
OPINION
There is no doubt about it – Burke has been going from strength to strength since he joined Celtic in the January transfer window. Previous boss Brendan Rodgers threw him up front to start with – especially in their Europa League clashes – and the rest is history, as they say. Many criticised the Hoops for playing him in a position that he is not entirely familar with, but he has learnt his trade well and is now excelling in attack. He is now getting the game time that Grant says he has missed out on the past, and what dividends that has done him. Celtic are a better team with him in it, and they will no doubt be gutted when he has to return to West Brom in the summer. All they can do now is make the most of him while they still have him, because as Grant pointed out, he is the “perfect example of a footballer”.