RB Leipzig ideal place for teenager to develop and Scotland will benefit, enthuses MacLeod
was different to what I had been used to – the training, the style of play, the lifestyle, everything. I felt I learned more about the game and improved as a player.
“When you are a young boy you just go out and enjoy it, love it, have fun playing football. It’s only when you get older that you really start look at the systems teams are playing, that you examine how to overcome the difficulties you are presented with on the pitch.
“When I joined Dortmund I had been used to charging forward all the time trying to get a goal in Scotland. But in Germany if you couldn’t find a way through you would bring the ball back and start again.
“British football and Scottish football has caught up with German football in that respect in the years since then. However, there are still leagues in Europe where they are far better at retaining possession and the Bundesliga is certainly one of them. You become a more complete footballer being exposed to that.”
Burke became the most expensive Scottish player of all-time when he joined Leipzig this weekend – the £15m fee paid to land his services eclipsed the £12m Aston Villa paid Fulham for Ross McCormack in the summer.
MacLeod, who won the German Cup and German Super Cup during his time at the Westfalenstadion and who regularly returns to meet up with his old team-mates, feels the teenager won’t be under excessive pressure to justify his transfer fee.
“The good thing for him will be that he won’t be one of the more expensive players in the Bundesliga,” he said. “I don’t think there will be great pressure on him to prove he’s a £15m player. By German standards, the price tag isn’t ridiculous. That will help him settle.”