'Made for Italy' - next emerging Scotland star encouraged to join exodus to Serie A

Lennon Miller returns to Motherwell today for the start of pre-season training but how long he remains with the club remains to be seen.

The 18-year-old midfielder is Scottish football's hottest property right now and, if speculation is to be believed, he will be off to pastures new before the end of the summer transfer window.

The newly capped Scotland international may not have played his last match in claret and amber just yet though. Motherwell have eight competitive matches - four in the Premier Sports Cup group stages followed by the opening four Premiership games of the season - before the September 1 transfer deadline, by which time Miller will have turned 19.

Lennon Miller made his Scotland debut off the bench against Iceland earlier this month. | SNS Group

Clubs linked with a move for the talented playmaker include Celtic, Sunderland, Udinese, Strasbourg and Union Saint-Gilloise. Others will also be watching with interest.

His father, Lee, himself a former Scotland striker who played for Aberdeen, Hearts and Falkirk among others, has hinted that his son is open to moving abroad.

Another footballing dad, Derek Ferguson, believes Miller possesses the ability to follow his own son's career path. Lewis Ferguson joined Bologna from Aberdeen three years ago and has taken Serie A by storm, winning individual awards and captaining the side to Coppa Italia glory last month.

"The style of footballer that he is, I think he's made to measure for Italy," ex-Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson said in reference to Lennon Miller on BBC Sportsound on Sunday where he was a guest alongside Lee Miller. "I've watched Lennon as a 16-year-old, he's added to his game already this season, so he's improving. You can just see he's going to thrive."

Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson holds the trophy after the 1-0 win over AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final. (Photo by ISABELLA BONOTTO/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

The success of Lewis Ferguson at Bologna, along with Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour at Napoli, Che Adams at Torino, Josh Doig at Sassuolo, and previously Aaron Hickey at Bologna, makes Italy an attractive destination for young Scots.

Miller senior revealed that Lennon had "asked questions" of the foreign-based Scots when on international duty.

"He's confident in his own ability, but he's not arrogant with it," he said. "It's good to see him in this environment and thriving in it.

"He's mature enough to go and kick on in his career and he needs to do that himself. I'm more confident that he would go over there and thrive. I think it would take his game to another level.

"That's the way he plays. He organises, he takes the ball under pressure. It was proud for me as a dad watching it, seeing him being himself and not changing for anyone."

After two years and 76 appearances in the Motherwell first team, the time feels right for Miller to move on. The club also has good reason to think so as it may be their last chance to properly cash in on a player who has just one year left on his contract with a value of around £5million mooted.

"He's back in at Motherwell training tomorrow," Lee Miller added. "We'll just wait and see what happens, but he just ultimately wants to play football. Yes, he wants to further his career and there's been lots of chat about different clubs.

"In terms of decision-wise, we'll sit down and weigh up the pros and cons about different things coming, but ultimately there's not been a firm bid put in place for Lennon."