There is no one tried-and-tested route to the Scotland squad.
Players seem increasingly open-minded about where their next move might take them, in search of football fulfilment.
For our new documentary, Forza Scozia, we travelled to Italy for an eight-day, up-close look at the lives of four national team regulars who have embraced a new culture, on and off the pitch.
As a teenage waitress in a Stonehaven hotel, Christy Grimshaw would get homesick going as far as a friend’s house to stay the night. Fast forward and she’s a stand-out at AC Milan – via spells in Miami and Metz.
Josh Doig was the highly-rated Hibs kid who made his breakthrough in a covid-ridden campaign that meant playing in front of empty stadiums week after week. Now the Scotland Under-21 skipper thinks nothing of playing in front of the relentless ultras at Hellas Verona.
Lana Clelland? She turned a six-month loan stint into a nine-year love affair with her home-from-home and has no doubts her Italian exposure has helped make her a better player for Scotland.
The same can be said for Lewis Ferguson, who followed in Scotland team-mate Aaron Hickey’s footsteps by making a name for himself with Bologna. An increasingly influential midfield presence, he’s come a long way from the raw rookie who caught the eye at Hamilton.
All four are proud to be flying the flag, and building on the legacy of former international icons like Denis Law, Graeme Souness, Joe Jordan and Rose Reilly – while fellow countryman Liam Henderson can be seen giving press conferences in fluent Italian these days for Empoli.
As well as they’ve done, it hasn’t been easy.
In Forza Scozia, they lift the lid on the good and the bad.
Hosted by James Richardson – the face of BT Sport’s Serie A coverage and famed for his role in Channel 4’s long-running Football Italia programme – the mini-documentary sees the quartet open up on everything from football to family life.
Expert insight is provided by Scottish sports writer Mark Palmer, a self-confessed Italophile who helped translate the autobiographies of Andrea Pirlo and Arrigo Sacchi for an English-speaking audience.
Scotland right-back Hickey also joins us from Brentford’s training ground to reflect on how important his Serie A stint was.
Watch Forza Scozia now on the Scotland National Team YouTube channel.
Photography by Greg Robins.