Arsenal and Tottenham reportedly failed in an attempt to sign Oliver Burke, who agreed a move to RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest this summer.
Oliver Burke, all of 19 and already a record-breaker for Scotland. The player became the nation’s most expensive player after completing a £13m move from Championship club Nottingham Forest to Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig.
The 19-year-old came through the academy ranks at Nottingham Forest and made his senior debut for the club at the mere age of 17. Burke played a total of 18 matches in Championship last season and despite a less than decent overall rating provided to him by whoscored, the player’s ability to get past his opposition and terrify their defence with his mazy runs caught the eye.
The new RB Leipzig signing had the opportunity to play for England but opted for Scotland, and soon made his national team debut at the age of 18 coming on in his nation’s 1-0 friendly win over Denmark in March 2016.
The player was reportedly sought after by a host of top European clubs including the likes of Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.
2016-17 seems to have begun on a more positive note than the previous one as Burke tore the opposition defence apart in the 4 matches played for Nottingham Forest in the Championship notching up 4 goals and 1 assists along with two Man of the Match awards (stats via whoscored).
Arsenal and Tottenham reportedly tried to derail the player’s move to RB Leipzig in an attempt to bring the player to London and made frantic efforts to convince the player, albeit in failure as Burke signed a five-year deal with the Bundesliga side.
The decision to join RB Leipzig would not have been an easy one especially with the likes of Bayern, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United keeping a close eye. It can, however, turn out to be a marvelous one as the side, even though far lower in stature, would provide the player with regular first-team playing time, something which would not be readily available at any of the aforementioned clubs.
RB Leipzig were recommended to the player by sports agency Sports Total, and the club’s sporting director Ralf Rangnick reportedly gave his nod after watching the player in action during Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win over Leeds on Saturday.
The capture of RB Leipzig is in line with the club’s philosophy of cultivating youth, which is well reflected in their first-team squad which has an average age of 23 (transfermarkt). Rangnick has reiterated many times that the club aims to develop young players as part of their first-team squad.
Burke joins the list of promising youngsters already at the club with some obvious talents like Lukas Klostermann, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal; Bayern Munich’s academy product Benno Schmitz and German U-20 international Timo Werner, who is supposedly on the cusp of a call-up to the German national squad.
RB Leipzig could prove to be the best platform to prove himself in an alien league and the bold decision to make the leap to Bundesliga at such a young age – something not many British footballers have attempted earlier – could just reap huge dividends if he continues his fiery start to the season at Bundesliga too.
