MANY City fans thought they had hit the jackpot when Swansea swooped for Oli McBurnie in 2015.

A fee of £250,000 for an unproven teenage striker looked a major windfall as the club swelled the kitty for their next promotion push.

But that is small beer compared with what he is likely to earn his former club now.

Three years on and McBurnie has become one of the hottest young properties outside of the Premier League.

He continues to make hay on loan at Barnsley.

The midweek goal against Norwich at Oakwell was his sixth in the last seven games – a run that earned him the accolade as the Championship’s player of the month for February.

It’s therefore come as no surprise that Scotland boss Alex McLeish has come knocking for the approaching friendlies against Costa Rica and Hungary.

City had no clause in the McBurnie deal with Swansea regarding international call-ups.

But they have scooped a further £50,000 so far after he triggered that payment with his second Premier League start at Newcastle in January.

And there are potentially two more instalments of £100,000 apiece for the next batches of ten.

The serious money, though, remains in the sell-on clause they negotiated at the time – understood to be a juicy 15 per cent.

McBurnie is out of contract at the end of the season but, given his rich vein of form, it would be a huge shock if Swansea did not offer him a new one.

Because of his age, he’s still only 22, the striker would still command a hefty fee in terms of compensation anyway. Either way, City’s interests are well protected.

Those who’ve proved they can score goals in the Championship go for big money.

Sources within the game believe his current worth to be in the eight-figure bracket.

A £10 million price tag would therefore mean a tidy cheque worth £1.5 million hot-footing it into the Valley Parade coffers some day – a pretty tasty investment on that 2015 sale.

Barnsley boss Jose Morais can see a maturity in McBurnie’s game and he believes he will become “someone important in national football” after his first senior call-up with Scotland this week.

From a City point of view, that can only add to the pound signs.

It is some progress for a player who appeared to have missed his chance at Valley Parade after being thrown in, by manager Phil Parkinson’s own admission, before he was ready to make an impression.

McBurnie’s rise through the City youth ranks had been spectacular.

He came into the public spotlight on “work experience” with Manchester United, when he finished as their top scorer in a prestigious tournament in Northern Ireland in 2013.

Within a month, the then 17-year-old had signed a first three-year pro deal with the Bantams while continuing to bag hat-tricks for fun in the youth team – he scored five that season.

The clamour to give him a run in the first team, coupled with injuries up front, led to McBurnie getting his chance around Christmas. But physically he wasn’t ready.

He could not take that goal-scoring form on to the big stage, missing one great chance against Bristol City the day after Nahki Wells had made his contentious exit for Huddersfield.

“It set him back a little bit,” said Parkinson later. “Oli went from Saturday morning youth football straight into the first team at a time when his body was still developing physically.”

A loan spell the following season with Chester in the Conference toughened him up and he earned a training call-up with Scotland under-19s. But with only a year left on his City contract, his opportunities remained limited.

With the budget boosted from the FA Cup quarter-final run, the club were eyeing a serious crack at promotion.

Parkinson did not see the youngster featuring regularly in his plans.

McBurnie’s agent also happened to look after Jonjo Shelvey at Swansea and he said that the Premier League side were showing an interest. The move suited everybody.

City got decent money for someone that was not really in the picture and McBurnie had the chance to develop his game at one of the most progressive clubs for youngsters.

Three years on, the real benefits could be starting to emerge for both player and his old team.