No último “emprestado não é dado”, o GAG chamou a atenção para uma entrevista que pode ter passado despercebida a muitos de vós. Enquanto eu e tantos outros vão esbracejando face à falta de oportunidades dadas ao escocês, Ryan Gauld mostra-se feliz e plenamente convicto de que todo este seu percurso em Portugal é a aposta mais acertada. E contra um argumento destes, o que é que um gajo pode dizer?

RYAN Gauld has picked up plenty of new words in Portuguese since he signed for Sporting Lisbon. But failure isn’t one of them. And irrespective of what anyone in Scotland might think about his progress abroad, the 20-year-old refuses to allow it into his vocabulary.

Gauld has been in Lisbon for two years now after earning a dream £3million move from Dundee United. He’s yet to make an impact in Sporting’s first team and has been sent on loan to Vitoria Setubal in a bid to further his development. He’s happy with where his career is at and content with life. And according to Gauld,Portuguese giants Sporting are more than satisfied with their investment in the Scot. But he said: “I feel that people back home are waiting for me to fail.”

“Some point to the fact I haven’t played too many games but that kind of criticism just drives me on. The first thought in my head is, ‘Well, I’m going to prove you wrong’. Since I moved to Portugal I’ve learned 10 times more than I would have done if I’d stayed in Scotland. I’ve grown so much as a person in the last two years. I’ve matured a lot and got to understand how life works. It was in my head that if I’d come back to the UK on loan, some people would see it as failure. But my decision to stay in Portugal is because I think it’s the best way to get into the Sporting team.”

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Gauld is relishing the challenge of impressing his parent club by excelling in the Portuguese top flight with Vitoria. The ex-Tannadice player is currently working on his match fitness and hopes to make his debut soon. Gauld said: “As soon as I learned that Vitoria were interested and Sporting would sanction a loan move, I was very keen to go there.

“I’ve had fewer games than everyone else so it’s going to take me time to get a place in the team. But I got game time for Scotland Under-21s, which means I’ll go back closer to the starting line-up. I still see my future at Sporting. This loan move will give me games in that league then I will go back to Sporting for the next pre-season. It is different at Setubal but it is a nice city with everything you need in terms of shops and restaurants.”

Gauld is still loving life in Portugal and has even adapted to become a deep-lying central midfielder. He showed a new side to his game for Scotland Under-21s this month despite suffering back-to-back defeats to Macedonia and Ukraine. He said: “I’m now regarded in Portugal as a deeper midfield player, not so much as aNo.10. Sporting see me as a box-to-box midfielder and I’m happy to play there. Obviously I feel my natural position is more attacking. But I’m still learning this new role and enjoying it. I don’t want to lose the creativity in my game. It’s why Sporting bought me – because of what I could do in the final third. I need to keep it in my game and show it when I get forward. I just need to add to the defensive side of my game now.”