Red-hot former Rangers talent puts European clubs on alert and boosts Scotland case with historic goal haul
Scotland Under-21 international makes history as European clubs circle
Scotland Under-21 international Robbie Ure put a number of top European clubs on high alert as he continued his remarkable goal-scoring form for IK Sirius by scoring four goals in their thrilling 4-4 draw with Mjallby AIF.
Ure, 22, labelled as Scotland’s next potential number nine, has spearheaded an unlikely early title charge for the Swedish side this season, with his 11 goals helping the Uppsala-based outfit go nine points clear at the top of the Allsvenskan despite many predicting a mid-table finish.
IK Sirius resumed their league season against the current Swedish champions on Friday night following a summer break for the World Cup, and took an early lead when Ure opened the scoring after just 14 minutes at Studenternas IP, before doubling his side’s advantage seconds after the restart. He completed a remarkable hat-trick minutes later when he fired Andreas Engelmark’s side into a 3-0 lead in the 50th minute.
Aki Samuelsen reduced the deficit for the defending champions with goals in the 56th and 60th minutes, only for Ure to tap home his and IK Sirius’ fourth goal of the game, becoming the first Scottish player to score four goals in the Swedish top flight in the process. However, there was a sting in the tail for the hosts, as Mjallby AIF roared back as goals from Ludvig Svanberg (81) and Tom Pettersson (90+1) rescued a late point for the visitors.
Focus on Ure’s historic four-goal haul took the headlines in the aftermath of the eight-goal thriller, with the former Rangers academy starlet’s form said to have caught the attention of several clubs on the continent, with the likes of Lyon, Hoffenheim and Red Bull Salzburg all keeping tabs on the youngster in recent months.
“If I get the opportunity to take my career to the next level, it would be hard to turn down,” said Ure earlier this week. “The honest answer now is that I don't know about a transfer yet. There is clearly interest from other clubs and leagues that also interest me. If you asked any player if they had the opportunity to take their career to the next level and play in a top league, they would obviously be interested.
"But I don't feel any stress about the situation – I'm just excited to play and help the team as long as I'm here. I would love to win the league here and that's still my aim. But I'll have to wait and see what happens. At the moment, I am just concentrating on getting back to playing with Sirius again after this break."
Eligible to play for both Scotland and Ukraine, many called on former Scotland head coach Steve Clarke to consider Ure for a spot in his World Cup squad after his strong form for his club leading up to this summer’s tournament. Amid his omission from the Scotland squad, some reports had claimed Ure was in the process of obtaining Ukrainian citizenship, with the Glasgow-born forward eligible to represent the country via his grandfather.
Tipped for a potential call-up to Serhiy Rebrov’s squad earlier in the year, the forward admitted he was aware of Ukraine’s interest in him, but indicated that Scotland may have won the battle for his international allegiance when he represented the Under-21 squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Czechia and Portugal in March.
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