Ryan Gauld relishing Lionel Messi MLS showdown as starlet reveals moment he realised Scottish football wasn't for him

Ryan Gauld revealed how he knew Scottish football “doesn’t really suit” after his loan spell at Hibs four years ago.

The 28-year-old burst onto the scene as a youngster at Dundee United and earned a mega move to Sporting as well as the nickname ‘Mini Messi’. After two years in the Tannadice first team, Gauld’s next experience of Scottish football came five years after he left Tayside when he moved to Easter Road to join Neil Lennon’s Hibs.

Gauld’s time in Leith was cut short due to injury and after moving from Sporting to Farense in Portugal, he travelled across the Atlantic to Vancouver Whitecaps where he has been a standout. He recently signed a new contract with the Canadian MLS outfit and Gauld, who has continually been overlooked for a Scotland squad call-up, told BBC Scotland in an interview: "What that little Hibs experience told me was that Scottish football doesn't really suit me. I struggled to get involved, struggled to make an impact there.

"You never know what's going to happen in the future, and what your options might be. I don't think Scottish football would get the best out of me and I don't think I would add too much to it either. So that's not something that I foresee but you can never say never and we'll see where we are at in four years' time.

"I'm excited to know that I'm going to be in one place for the next four years," he said. Since leaving United, I've kind of been jumping around year after year after year not knowing where I'm going to be living. So I'm happy just to have the continuity ahead of me of being in Vancouver and being in familiar surroundings. That's what I'm focusing on for the next few years and then you never know what's happening in the future."

Gauld has been named