Robbie Ure, cool and confident and 22 years old, played 90 minutes for Sevilla against Barcelona at the weekend, 90 minutes of being marked by Pau Cubarsi, man of the match in the World Cup final, 90 minutes of pitch-time with Rodri, player of the tournament, 90 minutes of breathing the same rarefied air as Lamine Yamal. Ure is a part of a new-ish wave of Scotland striker, uncapped but hopeful of making a debut on Saturday away to Slovenia in the Nations League. There is no Lyndon Dykes in Sebastien Pocognoli's squad and no George Hirst.
Injury has ruled out Che Adams, Lawrence Shankland and Ross Stewart. Those five were all at the World Cup in the United States during the summer. Now, it's Ure and James Wilson of Hearts and Kieron Bowie of Sassuolo, each with two caps, and Oli McBurnie of Hull, with the last of his 16 international appearances coming five years ago.
There is an intriguing freshness to this and nowhere is that buzz more obvious than in the story of Ure, the boy who wanted to play for Rangers but couldn't force his way in, the young man who in his seven games for Sevilla since his move from IK Sirius in Sweden has already played against 12 of Spain's World Cup winning squad. Just over three years ago, Ure left Rangers as a teenager, his last forays with the senior team being one minute against St Mirren in November 2022 and another minute against Hibs in May 2023. He is the poster boy in the Scottish FA's campaign to persuade clubs to give youth more of a chance.
Ure wasn't given that opportunity in Glasgow and left for Anderlecht, then IK Sirius and now Sevilla, who paid £5.5m for him, plus another £2.5m in add-ons. He calls the past few months "busy" which is an understatement. He's operating at a different level now.
Sevilla lost that Barcelona game 3-1 - he has yet to score for his new club - but this is an education he's receiving, a critical part of his development. "The first half, we were good," he says. "But as the game goes on, they wear you down.
I mean…" There's a knowing smile there, an indication of the kind of class he is now witnessing. "I really enjoyed it," he adds. "But against these players, you give them one chance and most of the time it's a goal.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
