Oli Burke: The life and times of a player whose record-breaking career Sheffield United could be trying to get back on track

Sheffield United have been linked with a move for West Brom's Oli Burke in a possible swap deal involving Blades striker Callum Robinson.
Oliver Burke arrives at the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 First Leg match between Celtic and Valencia at Celtic Park on February 14, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.  (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)Oliver Burke arrives at the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 First Leg match between Celtic and Valencia at Celtic Park on February 14, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.  (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Oliver Burke arrives at the stadium ahead of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 First Leg match between Celtic and Valencia at Celtic Park on February 14, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Should a move to Bramall Lane transpire, it would represent an opportunity for the Scottish forward to reignite a career that began with such promise that he has twice broken his country's transfer fee record.

The 23-year-old was born on the east coast of Scotland but was raised in England's East Midlands, where his talent was spotted by Nottingham Forest's academy.

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And despite his relatively tender years the Burke has already managed to play in England, Germany, Scotland and Spain.

Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) challenges Alaves' Lucas Perez (L) and Oliver Burke. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) challenges Alaves' Lucas Perez (L) and Oliver Burke. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) challenges Alaves' Lucas Perez (L) and Oliver Burke. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

Burke broke into the Nottingham Forest team in 2015 and with six goals in 31 appearances, showed enough to convince Leipzig spend over £13 million to take the player to Germany in 2016.

That made him Scotland's most expensive player.

Burke, however, only lasted a year there and left before citing a belief that he wouldn't be getting enough game-time with the hugely-ambitious German outfit.

Tony Pulis paid a little over what Leipzig did to bring Burke back to the UK and West Brom but injury and a change of manager - Pulis was sacked and replaced by Slavan Bilic - hampered Burke's early time at the Hawthorns.

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Then came some apparent light as Brendan Rodgers, then boss at Celtic, gave Burke the opportunity to boost his stalled career back 'home'.

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There was to be a setback, though as Rodgers left to take over at Leicester City and

Burke’s last outing for Celtic - now under Neil Lennon - was in the final Premiership fixture of the season against Hearts at Celtic Park before he was dropped for the Scottish Cup final against the Jambos the following week.

He scored four goals in 14 games for the Hoops.

Then came a public spat between Lennon and West Brom, with Baggies sporting director Luke Dowling saying: “Oli Burke will not be going anywhere near Celtic with the current manager. They (Celtic) will know what went on. Oli obviously knows what happened. It is a mutual decision that he will never return to Celtic.

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“We currently have a new manager who will start working and looking at Oli and hopefully he now has an opportunity here at Albion.”

That opportunity at Albion never really came about either and Burke spent last season on loan at Alaves, where he admitted he was enjoying his football again after a rollercoaster few years.

"Yes, I did lose some love for the game; but playing again like I am now, I'm really happy and I love it again. It's a great feeling,” he said earlier this year.

It appears as though West Brom have little intention of giving Burke the chance to build on that as they return to the top flight but the talk is that Chris Wilder is perhaps prepared to take a punt on the talented young player.

As Dowling said at the time of that fall-out with Celtic, “He is now a player who needs some stability to show his real form.”

Wilder has a history of bringing out that kind of spark.