Ryan Gauld

Dundee United

Gauld made his Scottish Premier League debut as a 16-year-old, as an 87th-minute substitute for Johnny Russell in the final match of the 2011–12 season, a 2–0 win away to Motherwell on 13 May. On 24 January 2013, Gauld signed an extended contract keeping him at the club until January 2016. Later on in the 2012–13 season, on 1 April, he made his first start against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park and marked the occasion with his first senior goal to open a game which ended 1–1. On 4 November 2013, during the 2013–14 season, Gauld's contract was further extended, to run until May 2016. Five days later, he scored twice in a 4–0 win against Motherwell at Fir Park. On 15 December 2013, the Daily Record reported that Manchester United's Scottish manager David Moyes wanted to personally "scout" Gauld, and take the opportunity to run the rule over the potential of other young Dundee United players such as defenders John Souttar and Andrew Robertson. However, the following day, also his 18th birthday, Gauld's contract was further extended until May 2017. Around the same time, he was being tracked by English Premier League pair Everton and Liverpool, Italy's Roma and Spain's Real Madrid. On 12 April 2014, Gauld played in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Ibrox, as United defeated Rangers 3–1 to advance to the Final. He made the run into the penalty area from which Stuart Armstrong scored the opening goal, and assisted the second from Gary Mackay-Steven. Five days…

Gauld was capped 10 times for Scotland at under-19 level, scoring two goals. He made his debut on 9 October 2012 against Armenia, replacing Matty Kennedy after 66 minutes of an eventual 4–0 win in a European qualifier at New Douglas Park in Hamilton. He scored his first goal on his fourth cap on 3 September 2013, against Iceland at the Forthbank Stadium in Stirling, a 20-yard free kick to equalise in a 1–1 draw. Gauld scored two goals in 11 appearances for the under-21 team. On 6 November 2013, he was called into the under-21 squad for the first time, for the match against Georgia later that month. He scored his first goals for the under-21 team on his third cap on 8 September 2014, a brace in a 3–0 win away to Luxembourg at the Stade Municipal de Differdange, at the end of a failed European qualification campaign. On 30 September 2014, Gauld was called up to the senior Scotland national football team for Euro 2016 Group D qualifying matches against Georgia and Poland, but did not play. On 10 October 2015, Gauld was sent off for a foul on Marcus Coco in a 2–1 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification loss to France at Pittodrie in his hometown. In October 2022, Gauld admitted that he had pretty much given up hope of being called up to the Scotland squad again. "It's genuinely not something I think about now," he told MailSport. "A year or two ago, when I thought I was doing really well at Farense, I felt it might happen. But I'm at a stage now where it doesn't…

Gauld's ability on the ball, and his small and slight stature, led him to be compared to Lionel Messi, a comparison made by the British press since 2013 which led to his nickname the Scottish Messi. At Dundee United, he was tutored by Ian Cathro, who favoured creativity and passing over the physicality often expected in Scottish football. After his transfer to Sporting, BBC Sport columnist Richard Wilson predicted that Gauld would be better suited to the style of football in Portugal, due to its slower tempo and its concentration on a passing game. Gauld himself has spoken of his preference for Portuguese football over its Scottish equivalent, and expressed relief at the lower media interest in him at Sporting, opining that comparisons with Messi were exaggerated and premature.

Gauld grew up in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, where he attended Laurencekirk Primary before becoming a pupil at Mearns Academy. In 2002, Gauld began to play for Brechin City Boys Club (now renamed Brechin City Youths), where he was part of a successful team alongside John Souttar and Euan Spark. The trio also developed their skills at coaching schools run in Dundee by Ian Cathro, before they all joined Dundee United's youth system in 2006 at the age of nine.