Sporting recruit Dundee United teenager Gauld

Sporting Clube de Portugal have made Ryan Gauld their sixth signing of a busy summer, bringing the Scottish teenager in from Dundee United FC for a reported fee of around €2.5m.

The midfielder, 18, has accepted a six-year deal with the Lisbon outfit, who since the end of last season have drafted in Simeon Slavchev (PFC Litex Lovech), Paulo Oliveira (Vitória SC), Oriol Rosell (Sporting Kansas City), André Geraldes (İstanbul BB SK) and Junya Tanaka (Kashiwa Reysol).

The Scotland Under-21 playmaker, dubbed 'Mini Messi' by his team-mates at Tannadice, scored eight goals in 38 appearances for the Tangerines last term as United finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership and runners-up in the Scottish Cup.

Gauld said last year it was his ambition to play in the UEFA Champions League, something he can now look forward to after Sporting came second in the 2013/14 Liga behind SL Benfica. "Every young boy's dream is the Champions League," he said. "That's the biggest stage in football, so if I could reach that at some point in my career I would be absolutely delighted."