How do Ballkan teams survive ?

Soon the transfer window is about to open , rumours and deals will be made all around the world , probably after the Covid -19 things will be a bit slower than usual. Still we are all aware that the value of a player has gone higher than ever the past 5 years.

From the Premiere League to Budensliga the numbers are getting higher every year .

We have witnessed transfers that can go up to 70-80 milion for a goalkeeper, 50-60 million spent for players that are not even 18 years old .

Football is changing at a rapid speed and it seems that no one will be able to stop it.

However the reality is years away when you look at a specific region that is not very far from all this mega transfers. 

The past 20 years a large number of players have been scouted and brought to European football from this part of the world which is also part of Europe to some extent. 

This region is the Balkans. Countries like Bosnia , Serbia , Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria have always produced great number of young talented players .

Yet only a few clubs have managed to sell players here and there, the rest are struggling to make any profit when it comes to selling their young potential players abroad .

Most of the players that move from the Balkan leagues are being transferred abroad as a free agent or on loan deals.

A small number of them have been transferred at a fee that most of the times could barely reach 300-500k , and this is considered a great deal for most of the clubs in the Balkans.

In my option the stigma and the social perception has a lot to do with all of this.

Obviously I’m not putting aside the luck of management, professionalism and knowledge that most of these clubs do struggle to provide for their players .

It is disappointing that not only do these clubs not get what they might deserve for producing a great amount of players, but additionally they lose quite a lot of their reputation .

Some will say that Ballkan players have a tough mentality that often it doesn’t help them succeed. Others will say that the level of football they play is low and their real value can’t be proven until they move to a better league. 

Unfortunately that might be true, still I struggle to accept that their value increases rapidly after their first transfer to Austria, Belgium, or Netherlands on a free agent or loan deal. Why have the clubs let their players go as free agent for years and haven’t learned their lesson ?

So many question coming into my head and i don't know which one i should ask first ;

Is there anything that can be done to help this region get back what they have missed on for the last 20 years ? 

Is it a management problem ? 

Is it a culture problem ? 

Is there a long term solution?

Can clubs , players , agents and federation do something about it ?

How long will these clubs survive with no profit , how long will these players be underrated ?