Calvin Ramsay has already been set his first challenge after earning a dream move to Liverpool, but it has not been made by Jurgen Klopp.
The 18-year-old right-back capped off a fine break-out season for Aberdeen by putting pen to paper on a five year deal with the Reds that could see his former club net as much as £6.5million - a club record transfer for the Pittodrie outfit. Ramsay's rise, which included winning last season's Football Writers' Young Player of the Year, has been followed all the way by Scotland's under-17 coach Brian McLaughlin, who says his potential was clear as soon as he left Primary School.
Having passed every challenge set for him by the SFA JD Performance School, McLaughlin feels the Aberdeen academy graduate is ready to take the next step and prove his value in one of the very top sides in European football.
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Speaking to Aberdeen Live, McLaughlin said: “I first saw Calvin when he was 12. He came through our Performance School programme, so he would have started when he was 10 or 11. It’s very hard to select kids aged 11 and 12, but there are certain signs that you look for and he had those.
"One of the main things the head coaches are always tasked with is making sure the kids want to come back. Wee Calvin came back every single day whether he’d had a good day or a bad day. He’d always try to get better and towards the end of his four years between 12 and 16 you could see that his potential was starting to show. You saw Calvin growing slowly but surely, believing in himself and getting better.
“We managed to get him into our national squad system then which was a whole new challenge. But he was always trying to do what we were asking and the good thing about Calvin is that he has, and always had, a fantastic mentality. We always try, especially in youth games at the youngest age groups, to give them the hardest challenge – more physical than anything else.
“We almost know the challenge is possibly too far for some young players. But the idea is to keep developing them so they are ready for the A squad because the A squad is the only squad that matters. So we gave Calvin harder challenges. Sometimes we played him in midfield. We put him in certain areas to challenge him. He always stood up to it. Sometimes he hasn’t played well, and sometimes we have had to let him know that, and he’s had to take it on board.
Despite the obstacles put in front of him, Ramsay's attitude and undoubted talent helped him to pass each test and carry him to where he finds himself today.
“The challenges come and go and then you find the next challenge, and Calvin has been through all that," said McLaughlin. "So, for me, once he settles in at Liverpool, he will have the right mentality and he will rise to the challenge. He will need to go down there and be patient but once he finds his feet, I think Calvin will do just great.”
Ramsay maybe moving to England to play football for the first time but he will immediately benefit from the presence of fellow countryman and Scotland captain Andy Robertson, who is sure to take him under his wing. And if breaking into a Liverpool side that features the outstanding Trent Alexander-Arnold appears difficult enough as it is, a parallel challenge to become a full Scotland international represents another, with Ramsay's friend, Everton youngster Nathan Patterson having just found a footy in Steve Clarke's Scotland set-up.
McLaughlin added: "As soon as the deal was complete, Calvin would be thinking: I wouldn’t mind playing alongside Scotland’s captain. I have no doubt his next target after that will be to get into the Scotland squad. He will be looking at Nathan Patterson, one of his friends, and thinking: I need to do more to get ahead of him.
“He will be thinking he needs to do more to get ahead of Tony Ralston, who has been doing great recently. That is Calvin’s next challenge. Calvin will step up. He just needs to maintain the good habits he’s had since he was 12, believe in them, and he’ll come good.”
