Few would contest that the Premier League is the top destination for players aiming to fulfil their potential - football's global league, hosted on English soil.
As such, for those born in Britain, the goal is apparently clear. To progress to the pinnacle, you must make it big on home turf, with the world's most popular league sitting right on your doorstep.
Not all would agree, though, as there are traditional giants of the European game who hold allure to any aspiring footballer, no matter their current state, and circumstances can also often make a move overseas the perfect fit.
This summer, while talent has been flocking to the Premier League from far and wide, a number of players have defied the trend to tread the opposite path - following in the wake of past Brits abroad, from John Charles to Graeme Souness to Jadon Sancho.
Here, Sports Mole rounds up the whereabouts of those wandering stars.
INTO THE SUNSET
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Almost from the moment an historic qualification for the World Cup was sealed in June, the destination of Welsh football's golden boys occupied the thoughts of those who worried about how they would prepare themselves for Qatar 2022.
The influential pairing in question were, of course, talismanic captain Gareth Bale and midfield maestro Aaron Ramsey, both of whom had run down blind alleys at club level due to a series of injuries and other matters.
Talk of either man moving home to Cardiff transpired to be little more than a romantic fantasy, but the future of both was unsure when they departed Madrid and Turin respectively.
Despite a fallow period stretching back over several seasons in Spain, Bale retains star status due to his past heroics and some incredible feats on the international stage - he had no shortage of suitors, then, after ending his nine-year Real Madrid career.
After much speculation, the 33-year-old forward chose the bright lights of Los Angeles as his new home, which will afford him plenty of playing time before a winter World Cup.
Having signed an initial 12-month contract with an option through until 2024, Bale has worked his way back towards full fitness by making four substitute appearances; already scoring two spectacular goals for Western Conference leaders LAFC.
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Weeks after his Wales co-star had secured his own future in the States, Ramsey remained without a new club, following his release from Juventus by mutual agreement.
The 31-year-old had been on loan at Rangers during the second half of last season, as his time at the Italian giants came to a premature conclusion - three years at Juve fell one short of the deal signed when leaving Arsenal in 2019.
Ramsey's spell at Ibrox ended in tears, as he missed the decisive penalty in a penalty shootout defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final, so remaining in Glasgow was always unlikely.
Once pursued by all of Europe's top clubs, the gifted midfielder made only five appearances during the first half of an injury-plagued 2021-22 campaign. In all, he scored just six goals and laid on as many assists in 70 games for Juventus, though he experienced success both in Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Once the youngest-ever captain of Wales - aged 20, back in 2011 - Ramsey's zenith was surely as part of the side that reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals, but his stock has certainly fallen since then. He therefore joined Bale in following the sun; moving to Ligue 1 club Nice on the French Riviera earlier this month.
Like his compatriot, the former Cardiff City star has already made an impression in his picturesque new surroundings: scoring only a minute after coming off the bench to rescue a 1-1 draw on his debut.
Ramsey started Sunday's match against Toulouse as a substitute before appearing in the closing stages, and six years after he scored at Stade Municipal in the famous Welsh win over Russia, he found the target once again.
SCOTTISH STARS
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Also trying their hand at making a name for themselves away from the UK are a talented trio from Scotland - with one in particular being no stranger to leaving Britain behind.
Former teenage prodigy Oliver Burke moved back to the Bundesliga last month, six years after hitting the headlines with an eye-catching move to RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest at the age of just 19.
The 25-year-old forward has failed to settle anywhere for long ever since - including spells at Celtic, West Brom and even Alaves - and he signed for newly-promoted Werder Bremen from Sheffield United, seeking to kickstart a stalling career.
Following in Burke's earlier footsteps, Josh Doig recently left Hibernian at the start of a potential journey to the top, and agreed a four-year deal at Serie A side Hellas Verona.
The Scotland Under-21 international set the Gialloblu back an initial £3m and left for Italy despite previously signing a contract extension at Easter Road until 2026.
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Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with Doig's countryman Aaron Hickey, as a young full-back switching home comforts for one of Calcio's middle order, and undoubtedly Brentford's new boy made quite an impact at Bologna.
Hickey was one of the stand-out stars of a mid-table outfit throughout the 2021-22 campaign, and the Emilian club have decided to dip their toes back into Caledonian waters by bringing in Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson.
For a similar fee to that of Doig's, the Scotland international - who scored 37 goals in 169 appearances for the Dons - switched to Stadio Dall'Ara, under the management of Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.
However, Ferguson must wait a while longer to make his competitive debut, due to a suspension carried over from his time at Pittodrie.
That ruled him out of the lineup for the Rossoblu's Coppa Italia clash with Cosenza this week, but his ban will have expired by the time they travel to San Siro for a mouthwatering meeting with AC Milan at the end of August.
A LOAN STAR?
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In recent years, a handful of British players, from Oliver Burke to Mason Mount, have taken the loan route to kicking off their careers overseas, and Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite joins that band this summer.
The Carlisle-born centre-back has penned a temporary deal with PSV Eindhoven, where he will stay for the 2022-23 season, having dropped further down the pecking order at Goodison Park following James Tarkowski's arrival.
Former Everton director of football Marcel Brands moved to bring Branthwaite to PSV, with the promise of first-team experience making the Eredivisie a good fit for the 20-year-old, who joins fellow Englishman Noni Madueke at the club.
After making only six Premier League appearances last season, in addition to playing one cup game, the former Blackburn Rovers loanee has already made his PSV debut, coming on as an extra-time substitute in a dramatic Champions League qualifier against Monaco.
Now managed by former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, last season's Eredivisie runners-up secured a 4-3 aggregate success with a winner scored just minutes after Branthwaite's 107th-minute arrival.
If PSV can now pip Rangers in the playoffs, the 6'5 defender could find himself turning out in Europe's top club competition - a long way from warming the bench on Merseyside.
SEEKING A FRESH START
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Like Oliver Burke, a return to the Bundesliga was the route chosen by Branthwaite's former Everton colleague, Jonjoe Kenny, who has signed for Hertha Berlin on a free transfer.
Having previously spent the 2019-20 season on loan at Schalke, the 25-year-old agreed a three-year contract in the German capital, drawing to a conclusion 16 years at his boyhood club.
The former England Under-21 international truly thrived last time around in the Bundesliga, playing in 31 times and winning the 'Rookie of the Month' award for August 2019.
Making a mere 15 Premier League appearances last term surely helped make Kenny make up his mind about where he saw his future, but like his old side Schalke, Hertha have been struggling to live up to their potential and are under pressure to improve.
Two other teams with aspirations of moving up the ranks in Germany are Bochum and Werder Bremen, who former Arsenal full-back Jordi Osei-Tutu and Derby defender Lee Buchanan have joined respectively.
The former previously enjoyed a loan spell in North Rhine-Westphalia and returns on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal. Meanwhile, the latter - an England Under-21 international - left the crisis-hit Rams by controversially terminating his contract at a club he first joined over a decade ago.
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Our final pair of roaming Brits have taken the road of Beckham and Bale this summer, as another duo of Derby defectors stray Stateside in search of a new start.
Seemingly never far from moving on to pastures new, former Manchester United prodigy Ravel Morrison has been reunited with Wayne Rooney in Washington, after leaving the Midlands at the end of his one-year deal.
The talented midfielder arrives at D.C. United on a free transfer, following his former teammate to Major League Soccer after also working under him at Pride Park last term.
Morrison's latest switch of a peripatetic career - which has also taken him to Mexico, Sweden and the Netherlands - comes with a deal that runs until next year, with an option to extend until 2024.
A rather more low-key arrival in the U.S. is former Wolves and Wigan wing-back Nathan Byrne, who also leaves Derby after their descent to the depths of League One.
Byrne has headed to North Carolina, where he will join a Charlotte FC squad seeking to establish itself in the MLS hierarchy, after becoming one of the league's expansion clubs earlier this year.
Jonathan O'Shea
