GAULD REEKIE
HIBS v ELGIN CITY
RYAN GAULD admits he went to Portugal with a huge weight on his shoulders after being dubbed “mini-Messi”.
And the gifted playmaker ended up feeling like he had been cut adrift in the football wilderness.
The midfielder – pending international clearance – is in line to make his Hibs debut in today’s Scottish Cup visit of Elgin after returning to Scotland on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
Gauld was earmarked for stardom as soon as he made the breakthrough at Dundee United as a 16-year-old.
And being likened to Argentina and Barcelona icon Lionel Messi failed to dampen those expectations as he made the switch abroad two years later.
The Portuguese giants immediately slapped a £50million buy-out clause on the youngster after securing him on a BY ALAN MARSHALL £3million six-year contract. But his time in Lisbon has not gone as planned, with the Aberdeen-born ace only making a total of five first-team outings either side of loan stints at Vitoria de Setubal, Aves and most recently Farense.
And Gauld admits the hype that surrounded his move was difficult to cope with.
The Scot said: “I had a sharp rise because of a good young team at United then signing for Sporting.
“And that brought huge expectations. But I knew it wasn’t going to be quite the way everyone expected.
“The hype was not ideal and you do try to put it to the back of your mind. But it’s still there. It made it difficult over there.
“When I would go out for a coffee, sitting in a shopping centre, nobody would even know my name but they’d be saying: ‘Mini Messi, Mini Messi…’
“Nobody even knew my name was Ryan Gauld. And that kind of stuff isn’t nice.
“I didn’t enjoy it and it’s not something I welcomed.
“I kept my feet on the ground and worked as hard as possible to hopefully provide myself with the best career possible.”
Now 23, Gauld has seen former United team-mates Stuart Armstrong, John Souttar, Andy Robertson and Gary MackaySteven all earn senior Scotland recognition. So the former Under-21 international is keen to follow in their footsteps.
Gauld, who would be open to making his stay at Easter Road permanent, said: “Did I feel like I was becoming a forgotten man? I suppose a little bit.
“I felt like my profile had gone down a bit in the last couple