Burke quit Nottingham Forest for RB Leipzig, but should have gone to either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur, the retired former midfielder says.
Oliver Burke
Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Jermaine Jenas has suggested in his Yahoo column that Manchester United and another of his old clubs, Tottenham Hotspur, would have been more suitable destinations for the departed Oliver Burke.
Burke followed in Jenas’ footsteps by leaving Forest in a big money move while still in his teens. However, unlike the retired former midfielder, the 19-year-old has shunned interest from England’s Premier League.
Jermaine Jenas (right)
Instead, Burke has signed a five-year deal with the Red Bull-backed RasenBallsport Leipzig, who were promoted to German football’s top division for the very first time last season.
At seven years old, Leipzig are younger than even Burke himself, however the Bundesliga new boys appear a good fit for the Scotland winger, having recruited both ambitiously and with the future in mind in recent campaigns – accelerating their rise through the divisions.
Jenas, though, believes Burke could do better. “When I heard that Oliver Burke had moved to Germany from my old club Nottingham Forest, my first thought was that he must have moved to Bayern Munich,” the 33-year-old wrote in his Yahoo column.
“He’s a special talent, and everybody I’ve spoken to in the game has been watching him. So I was surprised to learn that rather than being transferred to the Allianz Arena, he was in fact on his way to RB Leipzig – a club founded by an energy drink in 2009 that has just gained promotion to the Bundesliga.
“I appreciate that the Bundesliga is a respected league, and also that if Burke does well in Leipzig then he may get a move to another club. However, there were plenty of other clubs rumoured to have been interested – Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, for example – and that might been a more logical next step.”
As well as Burke, Leipzig, who play at the 44,000-seater Red Bull Arena – built especially for the 2006 World Cup, have also signed Germany Under-21 forward Timo Werner from Stuttgart and 21-year-old Guinean midfielder Naby Keita from namesakes Red Bull Salzburg.
Naby Keita (left)
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