It cannot be denied that the number of Scots departing clubs in their homeland at a young age is on the rise.
Just this summer, the highly rated Calvin Ramsay, Rory Wilson and Charlie McArthur have all left Scottish Premiership clubs to pursue careers south of the border along with the likes of Lewis Ferguson and Josh Doig who have completed moves to Italy. The trend is unequivocally on the rise, which has prompted me to investigate further. Thus, today we’ll examine what attracts youngsters and entices them away from Scotland whilst also taking a look at the positive and negative effects their departures have on the country.
Furthermore, we’ll take a closer look at some specific examples, such as the aforementioned, of deals which have and haven’t worked out whilst also focusing in on methods that have been used by other nations to promote and foster youth football.
Let’s begin by investigating what draws Scotland’s top young footballers away from their country of origin.