In Cyprus last Friday night, the Clydesdale Bank Premier League was represented by two players in the starting line-up and two on the bench.

The Scotland team was, essentially, drawn from England’s top two divisions, which prompted Craig Levein to be wary in his assessment. “It may be controversial,” the national coach said, “but I see Scotland becoming a breeding ground for talent that will migrate south.”

Levein did not want to be accused of diminishing the standing of our top flight, a competition that is already struggling with the notion of how it will evolve, in size, influence and stature. Yet why should the idea of Scotland being a country that exists to produce young talent be so regrettable? Every time a talented footballer departs for England early in his career – like Danny Wilson or David Goodwillie – he leaves behind the lament that it would have been better for the Premier League if he had stayed. It wouldn’t, though.

If Scotland is to improve as a football nation, it will be as an exporter of talent. Which is how it has always been. The idea that the best players used to stay put is historically inaccurate. Denis Law and Billy Bremner never played for a Scottish club; Joe Jordan, Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, Gary McAllister and Archie Gemmill played the bulk of their careers in England; Kenny Dalglish, Lou Macari, Gordon Strachan and Dave Mackay enjoyed significant spells down south.

It has become a cliched recollection now, but there was a truth in the belief that was widely held in England during the 1960s, 1970s and even into the 1980s that every dressing room needed a couple of Scots if the team was to succeed. This is Scotland’s heritage, as a country that created skillful, cocksure footballers, then sent them out into the world. The Old Firm, and other clubs during occasional spells of accomplishment, have always been able to keep hold of some of their talent, and that remains the case with the likes of Allan McGregor, Steven Naismith and Scott Brown.

Levein is right, though, to say that his options as Scotland manager are better served by players such as Goodwillie, Gary Caldwell, Christophe Berra and Charlie Adam moving to the Barclays Premier League, where the standard is better, where every week they face international class opponents. In Scotland, Levein only trusts his judgement of players when they face the Old Firm.

Across Europe, countries outwith the elite nations of Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Holland are becoming increasingly anxious about the state of their domestic game. In Portugal, there is much pained discussion about how the national team is reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, since the rest of the players are not of a similar standard and the Portuguese league is full of imported players, particularly from Brazil. Even in Cyprus, there is debate about the impact of so many foreigners into the domestic game.

Scotland has already faced this problem, and come through it. There is an acceptance that youth development should be encouraged at every level, and now Mark Wotte, the Scottish Football Association’s performance director, is addressing the most effective way to identify and nurture the best young players. This requires a cultural development, since the old ideas remain ingrained in British football: that physical attributes are worth more than skill and imagination, that a good big player is always better than a good little player.

It may take a generation, but the concepts that Wotte is pushing now – to recruit the best young players, whatever their size and shape, into elite regional training centres; to hothouse their talents and push them through the international set-up in a structured path from under-15s to the senior team – will be worthwhile. And then? We should be encouraging our players to move abroad.

We should not be scared of exporting talent, for several reasons. The most significant is that it improves players. Joe Jordan is still influenced by his spell in Italy, and Graeme Souness returned from the same country with a broader perspective on the game, as did Paul Lambert from Germany. The English Premier League, and its contemporaries in Europe’s other leading nations, is a finishing school for young players, who in turn pass those influences onto international team-mates.

Exporting players also makes room for others to come through, which in turn strengthens our domestic game. There is no point focusing on youth development if the players cannot then be exposed to first-team football. Players also develop at different rates, so that Adam has grown into his role as a playmaker in England in a way that he struggled to do at Ibrox.

Levein and Wotte share the same beliefs on the best way for Scottish football to be structured, and for how young players should be developed. Between them, they are shaping the future of the game in this country, and the Scotland manager is right to envision a nation that sends young talent out into the world. We always have.