Nottingham Forest once sold their teenage wonderkid for £13m - look where he is now | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest's decision to sell Oli Burke for £13m in 2016 ultimately paid off

Nottingham Forest spent 14 seasons in the Championship before earning a place in the Premier League under Steve Cooper.

The Reds were coming off the back of a 16th place finish in the table in 2016 when they made the decision to cash in on Oliver Burke.

It had been a tricky campaign in which the club remained in the bottom half of the second tier, 19 points separating them from the play-offs.

Forest were closer to the relegation zone, and supporters were getting frustrated with the direction the team was going in.

Oli Burke’s Nottingham Forest breakout

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Burke came through the Forest academy system before going out on loan to Bradford City for a brief spell in 2014/15.

He made his debut for the club against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup in September 2014, with his next appearance coming in February 2015 in the league.

The winger’s position in the squad improved in 2015/16 and he played on 18 occasions in the Championship, including eight starts, and even scored twice.

And an explosive start to 2016/17 saw him score four times in five games before earning a big money move to RB Leipzig worth a reported £13 million.

Oli Burke expectations went through the roof

There was excitement regarding Burke’s potential at Forest prior to his move to Germany, but that exploded when he became the most expensive Scottish player ever at the time.

Ralf Ragnick, the sporting director for Red Bull at that stage, made it clear just how much talent they saw in the forward.

"He is an outstanding talent with an awful lot of potential,” said Ragnick, via the BBC.

"He fits with the high pace and way of playing very well and will make his next sporting development step with us.

"This transfer is important, especially because several top clubs were interested."

While Forest would’ve been happy to receive such a big fee for someone who was still quite unproven, they did risk letting someone go that could become a superstar.

However, his first year in the Bundesliga didn’t go according to plan and he was sold 12 months later to Championship rivals West Brom.

Oli Burke's carousel of clubs

Between 2017 and 2025, Burke played for seven clubs, including two stints at Millwall, as he struggled to settle down at any one team.

He had loan spells at Celtic and Alaves during his time at West Brom before signing for Sheffield United on a permanent basis in 2020 after their ninth place finish in the Premier League.

But the Scot couldn’t help the Blades, who suffered relegation to the second tier with a 20th place finish, and he scored just once from 25 appearances in the top flight.

The now 29-year-old went on loan to the Lions in 2022 before signing for German side Werder Bremen on a permanent basis, which just led to another loan spell at Millwall, as well as Birmingham City.

Oli Burke looks to have finally settled

Burke hasn’t been able to live up to the potential he showed when he signed for Leipzig for such a big fee in 2016.

However, he has finally looked to have settled down somewhere in his career after signing for Union Berlin in 2025.

The winger played 29 times in the Bundesliga in his first season with the club, contributing six goals and two assists.

Burke helped the German club to an 11th place finish, and remains a part of their first team squad in 2026/27.