Oliver Burke interview: Bundesliga hat-trick hero for Union Berlin but could he make Scotland’s World Cup squad?

When Oliver Burke’s wife is visiting home and asks him if he wants her to bring anything back to Berlin, there is a problem. “I can’t even think of anything that she can bring back anymore because I'm so used to everything here.” He is an adopted German now.

It is almost a decade since the Scotland international made a shock move from Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. He is now onto his third club in Germany, having left Werder Bremen for Union Berlin in the summer - and he is loving this latest adventure.

"I am enjoying my life here in Berlin," he says. "I never thought as a child that I would be out in Germany. But I am here, I love the league, the teams, the stadiums, and the atmosphere is another level. I definitely feel that I am playing some of my best football."

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Most notably, there was the hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt in September, the first Scotsman to achieve that feat in the Bundesliga. "I just have that feel-good factor." He is, he admits, a different player and person to the teenager who first arrived.

"There were moments where I did find it difficult because, obviously, you are away from your family. When you are away in another country, and you are alone and you are doing everything, you are almost starting your life and trying to figure everything out.

"At the same time, you're trying to focus on your football, so sometimes it becomes a little bit overwhelming, if that makes sense. Especially when you're not used to it and then all of a sudden you're doing interviews with everyone. You get a little sidetracked."

He recalls "going into training tired" as a result, and there was the infamous line from then Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, who described Burke as 'an empty hard drive', interpreted as a criticism of his tactical awareness rather than excitement at his potential.

"It definitely got better. But at the start, you do feel homesick when you are in a different country and you don't even understand the writing or the language. You go into the shops and there isn't the normal food that you look for." Clearly, it feels very different now.

Union are a family club and have taken him under their wing. "What is really nice is that it is not cliquey." The crowds at the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei are not the biggest but the ground, with its three terraces, still boasts one of the best atmospheres around.

He almost brushed it off when his new teammates tried to tell him what to expect but has changed his tune now. "The atmosphere is amazing," he says. "They definitely bring the noise home and away. It is special." And the football itself suits him perfectly too.

Speed still an asset

"I think with counter-attacking football, it really uses my speed, which is probably one of my biggest assets. That is definitely my style of football, for sure." Although, as the tenth anniversary of his Bundesliga debut approaches, he has noticed the changes.

"It is definitely getting tougher. Everybody is faster and stronger and it's almost like every player hits great speeds now. You can't just run away from someone anymore." Even so, he is still one of only three players to be clocked at 36 kilometres per hour this season.

Feeling like a different player

Burke still plays with the same youthful exuberance. It is noticeable that his eyes light up with the memory of playing football in York as a child and eating pizza in the car on the way back from trials at Nottingham Forest. But, now 28, his game has matured.

He name-checks Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo as childhood heroes, and the latter's evolution from flying winger to a force in the middle is one he is making too. "I like being at the top of the field as a striker because I feel that I can do more damage up there."

Burke explains: "It has changed a lot. I almost feel like a different player. That comes with maturing as a player as well, knowing your job better and being more effective in your role, defensively as well. Players change; it's just about adapting, really."

World Cup hopes

Whether that adaptation has been spotted by his national team manager is unclear. Steve Clarke admitted that he received lots of text messages about Burke after his hat-trick against Frankfurt but it is six years now since his most recent appearance for Scotland.

There is a World Cup approaching, one in which Scotland will face Brazil in Miami as they return to the biggest stage for the first time since Burke was a one-year-old boy. It must be frustrating that he seems likely to miss out while in the prime of his career?

"I have not really been a part of it recently, so I am not really expecting anything. It is an absolute honour to wear the badge and represent your country. I would really love to have that experience again, personally, but I cannot think too much about that."

There is still a bit of hope there, although he knows that he will need more goals and a bit of luck to make it happen. Another hat-trick, perhaps. "Hopefully that is catching the eye a little bit and gives me a chance at least." But Burke seems like a man at peace.

Yes, he still has his moments. "I get over-frustrated with myself. In football, you know you can't dwell on things too much. You have to be quick." But a career of "many ups and many downs" is on that upslope again and he has learned to enjoy the moment more.

"I just go to the coffee shops with my wife and take a stroll with the pram, stuff like that. That's it, really. Just quite a chilled life, actually, outside of football."

Loans spells at Celtic and Alaves, Millwall and Birmingham, have all led him back to the Bundesliga.

"I feel like I am at a stage in my career where I should be playing my best football and that is where I feel like I am at. Of course, you can look back and you have ifs, buts and maybes. But at the end of the day, this is my journey and this is what it is.

"It is all part of learning and becoming the person you are."

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