MURDO MacLEOD was 28, had won numerous league titles and trophies with Celtic and been capped by Scotland when he moved to Germany and joined Borussia Dortmund in 1985.
Yet the midfielder still felt that playing in the Bundesliga, where he plied his trade with considerable success for three seasons, improved him as a player enormously.
MacLeod was delighted to see Oliver Burke, the 19-year-old winger who made his debut for Scotland in a friendly against Denmark at Hampden in March, sign for Red Bull Leipzig from Nottingham Forest for a Scottish record £15m fee on Sunday.
He believes the Kirkcaldy-born youngster will develop hugely from playing in one of the biggest and best leagues in Europe – and predicted the national team will benefit in their forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.
Gordon Strachan, the Scotland manager whose team will play in their opening Russia 2018 qualifier against Malta on Sunday, places great importance on the level his squad members are playing their club football at when he is selecting his team.
Read more: James McFadden: Move to Germany can help Oliver Burke become a Scotland star
MacLeod, who won 20 caps for his country and played against Sweden and Brazil in the World Cup in Italy in 1990, knows from personal experience just how high the standard of the Bundesliga is.
He feels that Burke, a powerful 6ft 2in tall forward with searing pace and an eye for goal, can establish himself as a regular starter for his country as they bid to reach the Russia 2018 finals as a result of the move.
“I was really pleased when I saw a young Scottish player was going to be leaving English football and going abroad to further himself,” he said. “I have seen some clips of Oliver in action and he looks a very promising player. It will be great for him. 
“It is a really big step for him to make at this stage of his career – especially as the club he is joining isn’t one of the bigger clubs in Germany. They aren’t the same size as, say, Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich.
“But Leipzig have obviously got money and have invested in a promising young player. He will go out there and learn his trade. He will just get better and better. I think Oliver will just go over there and enjoy it.
“German players are always technically very good. They are quick as well. Oliver has strength and speed and size and those attributes will help him. But he will learn a great deal as well and he will learn quickly.
“A lot of the defenders he will come up against in the Bundesliga will be world class. The others will be top class. There are no poor players in that division. He will learn from that. He will have to figure out how to get by defenders, how to score goals, how to solve problems.
"He will become a far better all-round player by playing at a higher level. He will improve significantly in the next six months by training with better players and playing against better clubs. That can only be a good thing for Scotland.”
MacLeod added: “When I went to German football, everything was different to what I had been used to – the training, the style of play, the lifestyle, everything. I felt I learned more about the game and improved as a player.
“When you are a young boy you just go out and enjoy it, love it, have fun playing football. It’s only when you get older that you really start look at the systems teams are playing, that you examine how to overcome the difficulties you are presented with on the pitch.
“When I joined Dortmund I had been used to charging forward all the time trying to get a goal in Scotland. But in Germany if you couldn’t find a way through you would bring the ball back and start again.
“British football and Scottish football has caught up with German football in that respect in the years since then. However, there are still leagues in Europe where they are far better at retaining possession and the Bundesliga is certainly one of them. You become a more complete footballer being exposed to that.”
Burke became the most expensive Scottish player of all-time when he joined Leipzig this weekend – the £15m fee paid to land his services eclipsed the £12m Aston Villa paid Fulham for Ross McCormack in the summer.
MacLeod, who won the German Cup and German Super Cup during his time at the Westfalenstadion and who regularly returns to meet up with his old team-mates, feels the teenager won’t be under excessive pressure to justify his transfer fee.
“The good thing for him will be that he won’t be one of the more expensive players in the Bundesliga,” he said. “I don’t think there will be great pressure on him to prove he’s a £15m player. By German standards, the price tag isn’t ridiculous. That will help him settle.”
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