Robbie Ure's remarkable rise has continued at pace, with the 22-year-old now on the verge of a first Scotland cap after a whirlwind six weeks that saw him move from Sweden to Sevilla and start against Barcelona.
The former Rangers academy prospect is in Spain with Sebastien Pocognoli's squad ahead of Saturday's Nations League opener against Slovenia, having impressed since his move to La Liga.
Unconventional route to the top
Ure's journey began three years ago when he turned down a new contract at Ibrox, despite scoring on his first-team debut against Queen of the South. He believed playing for Rangers' B team in the Lowland League would not provide the challenge he needed.
That decision led him to Anderlecht's second string in Belgium, before a move to Swedish side IK Sirius, where he scored 30 goals in 51 games. That strike rate earned him a move to Sevilla in a deal that could eventually earn Rangers up to £7.8million.
“If I look back six weeks ago, I was still in Sweden,” said Ure. “So this is all something that I want to just try and enjoy as much as I can. I need to be patient as well, because I know that these things will take time.”
Facing the world's best
Last week, Ure started against a Barcelona side containing four of Spain's World Cup winners. Next month, he will face Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid.
“If you take last weekend's game against Barcelona, looking around and seeing World Cup winners everywhere was quite exciting,” he said. “I'm putting no pressure on myself and I'm just trying to enjoy it. My story almost seems like it's just come about in the last couple of months, but it started maybe three years ago.”
Ure admitted the decision to leave Rangers was difficult, but he knew staying would not help him reach his goals. He recalled speaking to then academy chief Craig Mulholland, giving the same response each time: he wanted to look elsewhere.
“I wasn't going to be convinced otherwise,” he said. “So I went to Anderlecht. That's probably when I first started to develop a lot, on the ball as well. After that, I went to Sweden, taking that step into a men's changing room, being able to play at a decent level week in, week out. These were the two biggest steps for me.”
Ready for the next step
Ure is now competing against some of the biggest names in world football, and he believes he can reach that level with continued hard work.
“I definitely feel like I'm growing within each day and growing in the games as well,” he said. “Before the Barcelona game I wasn't nervous. I was excited to play in front of an amazing crowd and in front of our fans. These things are something that's really important, especially for a striker.”
“I do think that I can definitely get to the level. But, as I said, it's work that I need to put in every day to get there.”
