Ure: My goal is to follow Lukaku and be a star
Robbie Ure admits he took a risk leaving Rangers for a new life in Belgian football this summer.
But after making a huge impact at Anderlecht, he knows he has made the right move.
Ure is on Scotland Under21s duty after being called up for the first time and could feature in Tuesday’s Euro 2025 qualifier in Budapest against Hungary.
The 19-year-old came through the ranks at Rangers and even netted on his debut last season in a League Cup tie against Queen of the South.
But when his deal expired in the summer, he took the daunting step of quitting Scottish football altogether.
He had trial spells at AZ Alkmaar and Anderlecht and the Brussels giants immediately offered him a one-year deal with an option for another year.
He plays for Anderlecht Futures in the Challenger Pro League – Belgium’s equivalent to the Scottish Championship.
And he’s aiming to follow in the footsteps of former Anderlecht star and Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer, Romelu Lukaku.
Ure said: “I’ve scored four goals in six games, so I have started the season well.
“I’m playing in the second tier of Belgian football and at a lot higher standard than I was playing last season.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect but it’s been good and it’s a good level. We are basically an Under-23s team in the second tier so it is definitely challenging.
“I went to AZ Alkmaar on trial and that didn’t happen for whatever reason and I came back to Scotland and kept training.
“Then my agent called me and said Anderlecht wanted a look at me and I was never going to refuse that.
“So I went over for a week and trained and signed for them on deadline day.
“What was important to me was playing senior football and I also wanted to play for a big club.
“If I do well I want to be involved in their first team.
“I also wanted to move away and just focus on football.”
He added: “I was at Rangers for a long time and they were my boyhood club but I felt I wanted to go and challenge myself in a new country.
“It was up to me and my family and we thought it was the right move.
“Romelu Lukaku started at Anderlecht and he is someone I look up to.
“There are so many players who came through at Anderlecht. It’s good to look up to them when I am starting the same journey.
“Anderlecht have told me they believe in me and they want me to keep working hard every day and see what happens. There’s no guarantee that any of us will play for Anderlecht’s first team but I am confident and I believe in myself.
“If I do well and keep working hard and improving I can keep pushing and make the first team. I took a lot
from my time at Rangers. I trained with the first team a lot and I made my debut and scored.
“The jump was huge from Rangers B to the first team and it opened my eyes to the level I had to get to.”
And Ure hasn’t found the move to Belgium too much of a problem. He said: “I live by myself in Brussels.
“My family visit me sometimes, but I always knew that if you are going to play football you would have to live yourself eventually so it wasn’t an issue. I just wanted to go and play football.
“The club has been really helpful. I am taking French lessons and enjoying that.
“So to score the goals and get my first call-up for the Scotland Under-21s means it has been a good few weeks forme.”