Oliver Burke: The Scot Who's Gone Full Kraut and Can't Even Crave Haggis Anymore
Oliver Burke has fully embraced life in Germany after nearly a decade in the Bundesliga, now thriving at Union Berlin with a hat-trick highlight and top speeds. From early homesickness and adaptation struggles to maturing into a versatile forward, he's loving the league's intensity. Scotland World Cup hopes linger, but he's focused on club form.
Picture this: your missus is heading back to Blighty from Berlin and asks what treats to smuggle over. Haggis? Irn-Bru? A Greggs pasty? Nah, not for Oliver Burke. 'Can't think of a thing,' he shrugs. 'I'm proper German now.' It's the kind of line that'd get you a pint in the pub, but for the Scotland international, it's dead serious. Nearly ten years after ditching Nottingham Forest for RB Leipzig in a move that had everyone scratching their heads, Burke's not just surviving in the Bundesliga – he's thriving, loving every manic minute at Union Berlin.
Let's rewind. Back in 2016, a teenage Burke shocked the Championship by bolting to Leipzig for big bucks. It was glamour and pressure in equal measure, but the early days? Rough as old boots. 'You're miles from family, figuring out life solo, plus trying to smash it on the pitch,' he recalls. Interviews non-stop, training knackered from homesickness – it was a lot. Shops full of weird sausages instead of a decent bacon sarnie, language barrier thicker than fog on the Tyne. Even his old gaffer Ralph Hasenhuttl called him an 'empty hard drive' – ouch, though Burke reckons it was about tactical nous, not slagging him off.
Fast forward to now, and Berlin's got him hooked. After stints at Leipzig and Werder Bremen, he's loving life at Union. 'Never dreamed I'd end up here as a kid,' he laughs. 'But the league's class – stadiums like fortresses, atmospheres that rattle your bones.' That famous hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt in September? First Scot to bag one in the Bundesliga. 'Feel-good factor's buzzing,' he grins. And Union? Proper family vibe, no cliques, just solid mates. Their gaff, Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, punches above its weight with those three terraces turning it into a cauldron. Burke admits he was sceptical when the lads hyped it up, but now? 'Mental. They roar home and away.'
Speed's still his superpower. Clocked at 36km/h this season – one of just three Bundesliga flyers hitting that mark. Union's counter-attacking style? Perfect for the ex-winger. 'Everyone's rapid now, though,' he notes. 'Can't just leg it past 'em anymore.' At 28, he's evolved, mate. Childhood heroes Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo inspired him, and like Ronaldo ditching the wing for striker duties, Burke's doing the same. 'Love being up top, causing havoc. More effective, better defensively too. Players change – adapt or get left behind.' He's not the raw kid from York trials anymore, pizza-fueled dreams in the back of the car.
Union's embraced him like a long-lost son, and the football fits like a glove. But what about the Tartan Army? Steve Clarke's Scotland are off to the World Cup – facing Brazil in Miami, their first jaunt there since Burke was in nappies. Six years since his last cap, though. Texts flooded in after that Frankfurt treble, but call-up? Fingers crossed, eh? 'Honour to wear the badge,' he says modestly. 'I'd kill for another crack, but not banking on it. Need more goals and luck.' No sulking, just graft.
Burke's story's a right old yarn – from overwhelmed teen to Berlin's adopted speed merchant. He's playing his best footy, settled as Larry, and if Scotland come knocking, he'll be ready. Pour another round; this lad's living the dream we all secretly fancy.