Why Barcelona Wants the Scottish Premier League's Irish Wunderkind

It was almost surreal last season to see young Scotland striker Steven Fletcher linked with Real Madrid. What was more amazing was the fact Real Madrid didn't deny it.

The Madrid side's sudden interest in the Scottish Premier League obviously woke up their greatest rivals, Barcelona, as it is now the Catalan side being linked to a young starlet from Scotland's top flight.

James McCarthy made his professional debut in 2006, aged just 15, in Scotland's first division for Hamilton Academicals. After breaking into the Hamilton side, he helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier League, despite being only being 16 for half the season.

He was awarded with the Scottish Football League's Young Player of the Year award for those efforts.

The recently turned 18-year-old is already approaching 100 senior appearances for the New Douglas Park side and has not looked out of place in Scotland's top flight. He has drawn plaudits from all over the British Isles and from as far away as, well, Barcelona.

Although McCarthy was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the wunderkind has represented Ireland at under-17, 18, 19 and 21 levels and now looks certain to make his full Irish debut next year thanks to an Irish grandfather and a lack of interest from Scotland officials early on.

So what exactly is it that interests a club like Barcelona?

The midfielder is, to put it plainly, gifted. At 18, he's already one of the best midfielders, if not players, competing in Scotland's top flight. Some opponents even claim he is possibly the best player they have ever seen, according to Chris Sampson from the Times newspaper.

Huge praise indeed from fellow pros.

Hamilton manager Billy Read called James "a fantastic professional" in an interview appearing on www.sportinglife.com, where he spoke of the player's ability to deal with all the pressure. "He's had that since he was 15 years old. He knows what he wants to do and knows what he has to do (to keep improving and keep the interest in him)."

Reid has however claimed the youngster won't be leaving during the January transfer window and will be at the club until the summer at least.

So it looks like Barcelona will have to wait, which, in all honesty, will just see Barcelona getting an even better player.

Let's hope he goes a step further than Fletcher and cements a move to one of the world's greatest sides.

Spare a thought for Scotland, though. They have potentially lost forever their best player in decades, leaving Irish supporters jubilant.