From Nottingham Forest to the Champions League: Oliver Burke on his change of pace with RB Leipzig
The 20-year-old turned down a number of Premier League clubs last season and is reaping the rewards
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Your support makes all the difference.Sunday at the Emirates Cup is hardly the kind of occasion to ground hard-and-fast conclusions about teams or players. The pace is gentle, the line-ups rotated, the rules oblique.
Alexandre Lacazette pottered around on his first start at his new home, misplacing a few passes and scoring the goal that ensured Arsenal trumped mathematical convention to retain the trophy. Nolito was sparky and haphazard for Sevilla. Arsene Wenger's back three looked presentable. This is a whole lot of not much at all.
What was vaguely noteworthy came earlier in the day, in RB Leipzig's victory over Benfica. A solid team performance by the German side was lit up by the contribution of Oliver Burke, who brought vim and muscle to his role as channel-coloniser.
This was the 20-year-old's first appearance on English soil since he swapped Nottingham Forest for Leipzig last summer (he was in the squad for Scotland's visit to Wembley in November but didn't get off the bench) – a deal that raised a few eyebrows at the time, not least because there had also been Premier League interest in his services. But any doubts over his decision were swiftly quashed: Ralph Hasenhüttl's side had a season to remember, finishing second in the Bundesliga, while Burke settled into his new surroundings with ease.
“I've learnt a lot about myself as a player,” said a cheery Burke after Sunday's match. “With a German team it's obviously very different... the style of football, the team's you come up against. But I'm learning each day.
“Every player is an individual and it's their decision what they do, but I feel I've benefitted [from moving abroad]. It's a great feeling and it puts you outside the box a bit.
“The coaches have been great with me, teaching me all sorts of different things. I can just keep adding to my game and growing. Hopefully, I can become a great player.”
The next step is breaking into the starting XI on a more regular basis; 20 of his 25 league appearances last term came off the bench. His versatility should help – he was mostly used on the right last term but showed this weekend that he can be a handful through the middle – provided he can smooth out one crease in his game.
“This season I really want to prove a point,” he continued. “I want to make my mark in the Leipzig team, really be a part of it. I've had a great pre-season and the coaches are happy. I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to get in the team.
“Anywhere attacking, I'm very happy. I should have scored the chance I created for myself. That's the one thing I need to improve on: putting the ball in the back of the net, scoring more. It's vital in the Bundesliga to put the goals away, so hopefully I can do that.”
It promises to be an exciting season on a collective level, too. Leipzig are aiming to go one better on the domestic front, while there's also the small matter of a maiden Champions League campaign. They might not be everybody's cup of apfelwein, but there's definitely a buzz about the club.
“Everybody's very excited,” admitted Burke. “Especially me, coming from Nottingham Forest! It's all happening very quickly – an amazing feeling.
“We have a very young squad and we can keep getting better. You can tell [Hasenhüttl] is a great coach by how well we did last season. We've got great chemistry as a team; the changing room [atmosphere] is great.
“Hopefully we can do the same as what we did last year, or even win the league. I feel the team is ready.”
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