LET'S get real.

You can't possibly compare Ryan Gauld to Lionel Messi. But what you can do is compare him with the YouTube footage I remember watching of the Argentinian when he too was just a teenager. The 17-year-old Dundee United playmaker's running and playing style is identical to Messi, and like the Argentinian everything about him is natural: his technique, touch and balance.

But, apart from that, at the moment he is nowhere near Messi. You have to remember he is playing at a level of football light years from where Messi is at, operating at a pace which is miles away from the one that Messi operates at. You have to realise just how much of a step up La Liga is - and just what an athlete Messi is.

Having said that, Ryan does look special, probably the most natural talent we have seen in Scotland for a good few years, maybe since someone like Aiden McGeady or James McCarthy. Although he is a very modern type of player, he is also like the old tanner ba' player.

I was listening to Mark Wilson, the former Celtic player, on the radio the other day and he said he was the best he had ever seen, and his list included McGeady. Mark is a level-headed, down-to-earth guy who knows his stuff and if he is saying stuff like that about Gauld then you have to take notice.

When I saw him in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup last season when Celtic won 4-3, I thought his lack of years showed, and he was bumped off the ball too easily. But in less than a year, I can see he is getting stronger, and his muscles are tightening up.

Which is important because he is going to be a marked man. That is why all these scouts - clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Barcelona - are looking at him. You have to try to see what he could be like in five years' time.

In terms of his development, some will say that staying and playing games is the best - the SPFL is a tough league which would harden him up, and get him ready for a career - but if Arsenal or a Manchester United comes in for you there is only one winner. As long as he takes everything on board, gets enough game experience behind him at a certain level, clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United would give him the best chance to maximise his potential. It might never come again.

I would love to see all talented Scottish boys stay in our game and I am definitely not knocking the SPFL, but in a way staying here could actually stunt his career. It is too easy to think the SPFL is the best place to develop him. His game might be more suited to England or Spain.

Why shouldn't he go down to Manchester United or Arsenal and play with an even better calibre of player? It is one thing to say he hasto knuckle down, play first- team football and learn his trade, but he could do that down there.

OK, he might not play for the first team right away, but Jack Wilshere went out on loan to Bolton, and Danny Welbeck went to Sunderland on loan and it didn't do them any harm, did it?

So how much is he worth? It all depends on how well he does, but the scale of the buying club determines the price. If David Goodwillie went for £2 million then I think selling Gauld, who recently signed a deal until 2016, alone could be enough to wipe the Tannadice club's £3.7m debt and keep paying more for years to come. That kind of money is nothing to the top Engliash or European clubs, so I would say to them "if you think he is that good then pay the money". They have to tie it in long term, because you don't want to lose out if he does go on to be a world-beater.

You can mention names like Scott Allan, who haven't been so successful, but you have to go canny with these boys. Once they are down there it is about whether they think they have made it or whether they are still going to work hard. They are still in their development phase. And while they might not be on Match of the Day each week, it is not like they are just rotting away.

I don't think that would be the case if Gauld went to Arsenal or Manchester United. He is a level-headed boy who won't get caught up in the money side of things. He's not the biggest, but I look at guys at Arsenal like Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil, smallish players at the very top level, and think he could definitely be a player like that.

We are notorious for getting ahead of ourselves, though, saying a young player is world class and essentially killing their careers off. John Fleck was billed as the next Rooney. So let's allow this special talent room to develop naturally.