WE CAN’T AFFORD TO CLOSE THE DOOR ON ANYONE
As £20m-rated goal machine Adams says he’s not quite ready for a Scotland call-up, manager McLeish insists...
ALEX McLEISH has revealed that Birmingham City’s red hot £20millionrated striker Che Adams has signalled he is ‘not ready yet’ for a Scotland call-up.
The Leicester-born attacker, who qualifies for Scotland through his maternal grandmother and also Antigua through his father, has so far found the net 19 times this season in the English Championship.
But McLeish will not close the door on Adams despite the 22-year-old turning down the opportunity to be called up ahead of next month’s Euro 2020 qualifying away double-header in Kazakhstan and San Marino.
‘Che’s agent said he did not feel he was quite ready to come and play for Scotland just yet,’ confirmed McLeish.
‘He just wanted to concentrate on club football at the moment.
‘I think we could enhance his career if he comes and pledges his career to Scotland.
‘At the moment though, it’s a no. But we cannot afford to slam the door on anyone. We are a small nation and we have to keep all our resources open.
‘He has been in the system for a long while. We tried to get him at youth level, too, but at that time he maybe thought he would get called up for England or something and he knocked them back.
‘But I would rather not cut my nose off to spite my face. Gareth Southgate and England can discard potential players easier than I can. We will certainly keep the door open.’
As McLeish loses out — for now, at least — on a £20m-rated forward, he is boosted by the return to form of the most expensive Scottish footballer in history.
Oliver Burke previously set the record when he moved to RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest for £13million in 2016.
But Burke soon returned to English football in a £15m move only to see his career dip further at West Brom.
However, a January loan switch to Celtic has revitalised the 21-year-old, who, in the continued absence of Leigh Griffiths through personal issues, is now an option for McLeish.
‘Of course, if he’s playing to a certain level, then Oli Burke will be a candidate,’ said the Scotland boss, who confirmed a potential move to MLS for Hearts striker Steven Naismith would not impact on his international career. ‘I’m not saying we’ll definitely pick him but we certainly can’t ignore him. ‘Oli’s come up here and he’s playing for the team at the top of the league and that’s been a great environment for him. ‘He struggled to nail down a permanent place down south and I know he’s also been in and out of the Celtic team, but you can see that the confidence is coming back to him. ‘I can see him in any of the front roles because of his versatility. ‘You look at Liverpool’s front three, where Sadio Mane can play wide or through the middle. If you have players who can do that, then you can use them anywhere.
‘Against teams who play a high line, Burke, with his pace, is certainly one of those players who could harm them.’
McLeish likened Burke’s recent renaissance to the time he was in charge of Birmingham City and tried to land an off-form Spurs player who would go on to win the Champions League four times with Real Madrid.
‘It was like Gareth Bale,’ added McLeish.
‘I tried to get him on loan and Harry Redknapp was going to give me him. But he said: “Hold fire just now, we are short of men” and he played Gareth in a European match and he scored twice. There went my loan deal!
‘I was bringing him in as a left-back at that time but Harry played him further forward — and the rest is history.
‘You just have to be patient. A lot of players mature early. Oli started like a house on fire, he had a wee stutter, and now he is coming back again with a lot of confidence.
‘It just takes a certain moment in a game, a bit of confidence you get, and your career is off and running again. I see that in a lot of players.
‘Confidence is a big factor — and if Oli can do what he has started off doing at Celtic, then it can only be good for us.’
McLeish is boosted ahead of next month’s double-header by the news that Kieran Tierney is set to return for Celtic for the first time since being injured in mid-December.
The Scotland boss is brimming with optimism ahead of the new campaign after the last international get-together ended with victory over Israel to secure a play-off for Euro 2020. The play-offs are a parachute option but McLeish wants his side to try to progress automatically through Group I, which also features Belgium, Russia and Cyprus. He said: ‘I’m bursting to get started again with Scotland. We finished well at the end of the year and we put smiles on faces. ‘The optimism rises and now we want to cement that by having a great attempt to get through via the groups instead of worrying about the play-offs.’