“The wee man’s magic,” gushed Scotland manager Gordon Strachan after a goal from Shaun Maloney, the wee man in question, in a pivotal Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland. The goal, a short-corner routine trimmed with back heel flicks and nutmegs, was something special. In an age that counts brilliance in retweets and Vine loops, Maloney – an old-fashioned, playmaking dynamo – made his mark.

It was fitting that Maloney should score the most important goal of Scotland’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign to date, given how he has been at the forefront of the country’s resurgence under Strachan, scoring twice and forcing an own goal in four fixtures last year. It’s little wonder, then that the playmaker has his suitors this January. Or rather, had his suitors.

Little more than two months after his curling, right-footed strike against Ireland Maloney looks set for a move Stateside, with a transfer to the Chicago Fire close to completion, whether he arrives in January or as a free agent in the summer. Frank Yallop’s team have swooped for the player they see as the solution to their midfield creativity shortage, fending off interest from Maloney’s former club Celtic after a move to Leicester City broke down last week. This time not even a blind draw can apparently come between Chicago and a new DP signing.

So what would the Fire and Major League Soccer be getting? Arguably the most technically adept player Scotland has produced in a decade (although Ryan Gauld – the former Dundee United teenager now at Sporting Lisbon – may have taken that mantel). Maloney has effortless close control, a surging turn of pace and instant an change of direction: Chicago will have signed a player to prompt their ailing frontline into life.

Although in terms of unadulterated goal threat Maloney has always flattered to deceive. The 31-year-old has scored just four times in 27 appearances this season, with two of those goals coming for Scotland. In fact, Maloney hasn’t crossed into double figures for a season since scoring 16 in the 2005-06 campaign for Celtic. Such a tally is tame for a player who operates so close to the opposition penalty area.

Even still, Mike Magee, Quincy Amarikwa and off-season signing Guly do Prado can look forward to the new MLS season if Maloney arrives. The failure to capture Jermaine Jones might still be the source of some aggravation at Chicago – especially considering how the USMNT midfielder led New England all the way to the MLS Cup game – but it’s possible Maloney might be an ever better fit.

And yet for all his undeniable technical ability and frequent brilliance there is a faint whiff of regret hanging over Maloney’s career. Like so many pure playmakers he never quite became the player he promised to be, even if he has enjoyed a largely successful 14 years in the game.

Born in Malaysia, Maloney moved to his mother’s home town of Aberdeen at the age of five, excelling in soccer and tennis from a young age. Andy Murray even came up against Maloney as a schoolboy before the latter signed pro youth terms with Celtic at 13. It took Maloney just four years from that point to make an impression at senior level, bursting on to the scene as a striker with a speciality in free-kicks.

Under Martin O’Neill, Maloney was used on the left side of midfield but it was with Strachan’s appointment in 2005 that he flourished in a more central role. Maloney quickly became Scotland’s reluctant poster boy, winning the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year at just 23 – the first man to do so in the same year. A £1m deadline day transfer to Aston Villa soon followed, but Maloney made just 30 appearances for the EPL club before returning to Celtic for a fee of £3m. However, injury hindered his second spell in Glasgow, missing much of the 2010-11 season after undergoing surgery on a troublesome achilles tendon.

And so Maloney returned to the EPL with Wigan Athletic, thriving under Roberto Martinez, who gave the Scot more of a free role in behind the central strikers. Goals against Liverpool, Newcastle and a strike against Manchester United – which famously shattered the Old Trafford club’s title challenge – sparked one of the greatest comebacks in EPLhistory, as Wigan escaped relegation with seven wins from their final nine matches, having been five points adrift at the start of February.

Given his EPL track record and recent international form, it’s somewhat surprising that only Leicester attempted to take Maloney back to the English top-flight this month. But where relegation-threatened EPL sides may have missed out, the Chicago Fire and Yallop are set to benefit.

Journalists will confirm that Maloney can be an awkward interviewee. His modesty and intelligence means he can provide a degree of pragmatism most soccer players struggle to, making him a media officer’s dream but a headline writer’s nightmare. In a way Maloney’s off-the-field personalty reflects his on-the-field nature, conducting himself with nuanced subtlety

“At the moment he is playing in the Championship and the American scene is probably closer to that than the Premier League, so I think it would be OK,” the Scotland assistant coach, Mark McGhee, said when it was put to him whether a move to MLS would harm Maloney’s national team prospects.

Of all the Scots to have made the move to MLS in recent years – Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller, Barry Robson, Stevie Smith – Maloney is comfortably the most talented. In a league that has always harnessed its playmakers – Diego Valeri, Federico Higuain, Graham Zusi et al – MLS has another to add to its ranks. The Chicago Fire would have plenty to gain from the wee man.