OLIVER BURKE isn’t the only Scottish youngster dreaming of mixing it with Europe’s elite.
For one former Motherwell youth defender who has just returned from a two-week trial at Benfica, Burke’s £13m move from Nottingham Forest to Red Bull Leipzig in the Bundesliga, serves as a reminder of what could have been and what might still be.
Eleven days into his time with the Portuguese giants, Tom Leighton’s world was turned upside down when he overextended his groin during a training session at Benfica’s training facility and his trial period came to a premature end. A legendary former Benfica striker was on hand to offer reassurance to Leighton, who has now had three trips to the club's Caixa Futebol Campus near Lisbon.
The 16-year-old, a product of the SFA performance programme at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell impressed enough that Nuno Gomes, now head of youth at the Stadium of Light, promised the Scottish defender he would be given another chance to shine.
“Nuno Gomes told me ‘the feedback is good, the coaches like you. You’re a good a player and it’s a shame about the injury because we’d love to have you back when the injury clears up’. Gomes is a legend at Benfica but he’s also a really nice guy. Nuno showed me around, where to go at the training facility and where my room was.
“I was daunted by it initially and I was surprised at first because I didn’t think Benfica would take me seriously because I’m Scottish. The first day I was there I could tell people were judging me and I needed to impress. I could feel the difference immediately on the pitch. There were some special players there but I knew that if I played with and against them regularly they would make me better as a player.
“I’m a ball-playing centre-back, I’m comfortable with the ball at my feet and I’m fast and Benfica said these were attributes they liked in me."
Those abilities are well regarded by regular watchers of the Eagles and are embodied by Luisao, the club captain, veteran of almost 500 games, and a holder of 44 caps for Brazil. Leighton counts him among his acquaintances from his time in Portugal.
“The first time I was at Benfica I met him. All my team-mates got a photo with him. I said 'I’m not getting a photo with him because I’m going to come back here one day and I’ll be in my own Benfica strip next to him' and then I'll have earned a photo.
“I met him again this summer. He was having his lunch. He asked me where I was from and I told him Scotland. He was surprised and said ‘we don’t see many people from Scotland here’. He told me to give it my best shot and show them what I’ve got.”
Burke’s move has only intensified this young man’s dreams.
“Oliver Burke is an inspiration to someone like me. He is going to develop a lot quicker out there with the coaching he will receive,” added Leighton, who has been on trial at Southampton and is being tracked by Liverpool, Watford, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Much as Burke faced a dilemma regarding his development, Leighton is at a similar crossroads: go and learn from the best coaches but become snarled up in the pecking order that predominates at big English and European clubs or stay in Scotland and find himself fast-tracked to the first team. Motherwell, for one, would love to have him back.
“They would like me to go back. They have offered me a full-time contract and are in contact with me on regular basis. They have told me the door is open. I’m keeping my options open."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here