As European club competition continued across the continent last night, you may not have noticed the presence of a Welshman on the bench in Champions League action. Robbie Burton was there for Dinamo Zagreb at CSKA Moscow, while this evening Rabbi Matondo’s Schalke face Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Jack Hammett says these experiences can ensure Wales manager Ryan Giggs one day feels the benefit.
When we think of Welsh players earning their corn overseas, we often think of Gareth Bale scoring in a Champions League final or Aaron Ramsey teaming up with Cristiano Ronaldo under the tutelage of Andrea Pirlo.
The rest of our national squad is built up of Premier League and Championship players who are used to a certain style of play – quick football, aggressive and direct.
So, there could be a case to make that our national side has suffered from a lack of players who have gone abroad to test themselves in unfamiliar territories.
Over the years, too few have played in leagues that have different demands and require working for managers who want the game to be played in a different way.
A lot of our current exciting Welsh talent will be found in the lower leagues of English football, either on loan from one of England’s super clubs or looking to work their way up to the Premier League.
Harry Wilson and Dylan Levitt have both moved down a rung on loan to get more first-team football.
Moving in the other direction, Daniel James and Joe Rodon both graduated from the Swansea City academy, took loan moves to Leagues One and Two, and then earned their place in the Swansea City side before securing moves to Manchester United and Tottenham.
But there are some who have chosen a different route – and one which could ultimately benefit Wales.
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For a 20-year-old winger, playing 29 league matches in one of Europe’s top five leagues is all the first team football you could really ask for.
Rabbi Matondo isn’t unfamiliar with Welsh football fans, having already earned six international caps and his £11m move to Schalke from Manchester City was well documented.
His time at the German club has been one steep learning curve, but it could eventually pay dividends.
Schalke find themselves in a tricky situation around the bottom of the Bundesliga table. They are currently 19th in the league, following on from a disastrous run of form since the re-start last season.
They sacked David Wagner after only two games this season and have only managed to earn one point from their three matches since.
Confidence could be low for Matondo, as his only two appearances this season have been losing the Revierderby 3-0 to local rivals Dortmund, and being destroyed 8-0 on the opening day to a fierce Bayern Munich side.
Hopefully for Matondo, new manager Manuel Baum, who has a history of working with younger players after coaching the German U18 and U20 sides, might improve the side’s fortunes as they look to turn their season around.
Whilst David Brooks and Wilson play twice a week in the Championship, Bale is lacking match sharpness. Likewise, Daniel James looks low on confidence during this difficult period for Manchester United, so now could be a perfect time for Matondo to turn in some impressive performances in the Bundesliga.
He can start on Friday night when Schalke face VfB Stuttgart at the Veltins Arena.
Like Matondo, Robbie Burton had also been unimpressed by the lack of first-team opportunities in the Premier League and looked outwards instead of downwards to see what his other options were.
After travelling with the Arsenal first team on a pre-season tour under Unai Emery, Burton found the lack of opportunities frustrating upon his return to London where he captained the Arsenal U23 side.
When Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb enquired about taking Burton to the Croatian capital – providing the opportunity to play European football – he grabbed it with both hands and hasn’t looked back.
So far this season, Burton has featured twice in the league for Zagreb, including a full 90 minutes in his side’s 2-0 victory over Šibenik, as well as being included in the squad for the Europa League matches as an unused substitute.
Playing out in Croatia looks to be the perfect place for a young player to progress and improve – away from the scrutiny and spotlight that comes with playing in the Premier League.
But he still gains the experience of playing for a loyal and vocal fan base at the biggest club in the country, against some of the best sides in Europe in the Champions League or Europa League.
The question a lot of Wales fans were asking during the most recent games, was who was going to start in the centre of midfield?
Are Wales better with Ethan Ampadu playing there or is he more suited to centre back?
Is a midfield of Will Vaulks and Joe Morrell dynamic enough? Have Matt Smith and Levitt played enough senior football this season?
Playing for the first team that produced Champions League midfield talents like Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, and Dani Olmo, Burton is in good hands and will hopefully be able to excel out in Zagreb, fulfil his potential, and force himself into the Wales midfield where there’s a space up for grabs.
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During Wales’ Nations League clash in Bulgaria, fans winced as we watched our reliable pair of gloves, Wayne Hennessey, go down injured.
It’s the first time in a very long time that Wales face the prospect of life without Hennessey between the sticks and now the dust has settled it’s clear that we might be without our usual first choice for quite some time.
Adam Davies came off the bench that night to replace Hennessey, but was recently forced off for Stoke City with a knee injury and waits to find out the full extent of his problem.
With a shortage of Welsh goalkeepers, could there be a return to the squad for Norway-based Michael Crowe?
Playing football in the Norwegian Eliteserien, Crowe has been absent from Wales squads since he was an unused substitute during the China Cup in early 2018.
Bamber Bridge are in Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy semi-final action at Leyland tonight and on-loan PNE keeper Michael Crowe is set to make his Brig debut.https://t.co/NKMwz4c6Hm
— Dave Seddon (@Sedds_lep) March 4, 2020
Since then, he has moved from Ipswich Town to Preston North End, had a loan spell at non-league Bamber Bridge, and been released from Preston during July of this year.
He made his way over to Norway to play for Viking FK, who currently find themselves seventh in the league after winning four of their last five matches.
First team football to press his case might be difficult to come by, though, for Crowe. His chances have so far been few and far between and it looks likely that most of this season will be spent on the bench.
If he gets his chance, then he will need to seize it in order to make his way back into the Wales squad.
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Matondo, Burton and Crowe at least have a few high profile role models to follow, Welsh players who have made their mark over the years in Europe.
We have a rich history of exporting our most talented footballers across Europe. John Charles is still revered in Turin and spoken of as Juventus’ greatest foreign player after moving from Leeds United one year before Wales’ only World Cup appearance in 1958.
After a steady start, Ramsey will be hoping to follow in Charles’ footsteps at the Italian club, unlike Ian Rush, who rarely hit the heights with the Old Lady after making a record-breaking move from Liverpool in 1987.
Mark Hughes also had spells at massive clubs in Europe but only played a year at Barcelona after moving from Manchester United.
He moved on loan to Bayern Munich for a further season before returning to United.
Then there is Bale. A four-times Champions League winner at Real Madrid, he has been Wales’ most successful export – perhaps even the most successful British player to play abroad.
Bale’s Spanish base provided the platform from which he did so much to enable Wales to qualify for Euro 2016.
It can only be hoped that the current crop of Welshmen overseas prove half as influential.