While following the transfer window, specifically the move of young Senegalese player Yaya Dieme from Diambars FC to Strasbourg, which is owned by the same group as Chelsea, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if clubs in my country had proper scouting departments.

To avoid being overly critical, I must mention that there are clubs that genuinely have scouting services, such as FK Sarajevo, and I believe they are doing a good job. Just to clarify, I’m not a fan of theirs, so my praise isn’t biased, but it’s clear that they’ve given attention to this part of their sports sector. Of course, there’s plenty of room for improvement, but compared to other clubs in my country, they are definitely ahead in this aspect.

How Does a Transfer Window Work in BiH and the Region?

Coaches are the ones who spend the most time with the team and know best which positions need strengthening. But how do sporting directors or club presidents sign players without a scouting department? This is where agents step in—many of whom live from one transfer window to the next, earning commissions during player transfers. I have nothing against agents; they are an integral part of this game, and there are excellent agents who significantly help their players throughout their careers. But if clubs solely rely on agents’ offers during the transfer window, where does that lead?

Moreover, in my opinion, the semi-amateur contracts valid from summer to summer weaken any negotiation position with other clubs when there’s interest in players of a certain value. We often see the same players and coaches rotating among several clubs, sometimes more than half the league. Outgoing transfers are statistically insignificant. The typical excuse for signing foreign players often boils down to the difficulty of completing paperwork, which sounds, at the very least, absurd to me.

I’ve been in situations where I offered clubs from the Premier League and the First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina the top scorer of the Ugandan league, only to hit a wall. The player had no agent, and I wasn’t asking for anything. Yet, I received excuses like, “The registration process is too complicated,” or, “We don’t have experience with foreign players.”

Back to the Beginning

If I, as a freelance scout, someone who does this out of passion and believes they have talent, could know about a player from Senegal (and this isn’t the only example—there have been players from various parts of Africa, Central America, and Asia who made transfers to some of Europe’s top leagues), why wouldn’t it be possible for clubs in my country to do the same with minimal investment? Why couldn’t the BiH league serve as a stepping stone for these players on their way to better European leagues? The players would benefit by adapting to the European style of football, while the clubs would profit from their onward transfers.

We can continue living in the illusion that we are a nation full of talent and that foreign players shouldn’t take spots from young domestic players. The reality is that football in BiH and Europe could practically be considered two different sports. The speed of play, physicality, and infrastructure are worlds apart. While infrastructure is a topic for others to address, many deficiencies could be improved at a relatively low cost—through scouting.

We have numerous examples of the benefits of scouting, from Danish club FC Nordsjælland to most clubs in Belgium and Austria. I understand the difference in financial capabilities, but I’m confident there’s room for competition with similar setups.

Conclusion

I don’t believe much will change in BiH regarding this issue. Clubs have entrenched ways of operating. I don’t have enough influence on public opinion to spark a discussion or simply give clubs the idea that they don’t have to depend solely on agents’ offers, wait for players who failed to secure contracts “abroad,” or be a last resort for players. On top of that, they could profit.

Looking at the current state of the league, the best player and top scorer is currently Giorgi Guliashvili from FK Sarajevo, a club that didn’t follow the logic of “it’s too complicated to handle the paperwork.” Another player with the highest real market value is Abdulmalik Al-Jaber—surprise, another foreigner. This raises the question: is it time to establish scouting teams and approach transfer windows more creatively?

In conclusion, this is just my opinion. I may not be the most qualified, and there’s room for discussion about the points I’ve raised, but the fact remains that this approach works in the football world.

For a first personal article, that’s it. Apologies for any minor errors. I look forward to your comments—progress comes from open dialogue, not one-sided thinking.

Skauting u BiH

Prateci prelazni rok tacnije transfer mladog Senegalca Yaya Dieme iz Diambars FC u Strasbourg koji je u vlasnistvu grupacije u kojoj je i Chelsea, a o kojem sam ja odavno pisao, zapitao sam se sta bi bilo kad bi klubovi iz moje drzave imali skauting sluzbe.

Da ne budem samo negativac postoje klubovi koji stvarno imaju skauting sluzbe poput FK Sarajevo i misljenja sam da rade stvarno dobar posao. I da se ogradim odmah nisam njihov navijac pa da ih zato hvalim, ali ocigledno je da su posvetili paznju tom dijelu sportskog sektora. Naravno moze to jos dosta bolje, ali ako poredim sa ostalim klubovima u mojoj zemlji definitivno prednjace u tome.

Kako funkcionise jedan prelazni rok u BiH i u regionu?

Treneri si su ti koji provode najvise vremena sa ekipom i najbolje znaju koje im pozicije treba pojacati, ali kako onda sportski direktor ili predsjednici klubova dovode igrace ako nemaju skauting sluzbu. E tu na scenu stupaju agenti od kojih dosta njih zivi od prelaznog roka do prelaznog roka i provizija koje dobiju tokom transfera. Naravno nemam nista protiv njih, sastavni dio su ove igre, ima sjajnih agenata koji svojim fudbalerima dosta pomazu tokom njihove karijere. Ali ako klubovi zavise samo od toga da se tokom prelaznog roka oslanjaju na ponude agenata gdje to sve vodi. Na sve to po mom misljenju poluamaterski ugovori koji vaze od ljeta do ljeta i pri tome se gubi svaka pozicija za pregovaranje sa drugim klubovima u slucaju zainteresovanosti za igrace sa odredjenom vrijednoscu. Cesto se vrte igraci i treneri koji promjene po nekoliko klubova cesto i vise od polovine lige. Izlazni transferi su na nivou statisticke greske. Obicno izgovor za angazovanje stranaca se svodi na to da je tesko zavrsiti papirologiju, sto meni zvuci u najmanju ruku smijesno. Bio sam u situaciji kad sam nudio klubovima iz Premijer lige i Prve lige najboljeg strijelca lige Ugande gdje sam naisao na zid. Igrac bez agenta i ja koji nisam trazio nista. Dobijao sam upravo ove odgovore tesko je oko registracije, nemamo iskustva sa strancima i slicno.

Da se vratimo na pocetak, ako sam ja kao frilens skaut i neko ko se bavi ovim jer voli i mislim da imam talenta mogao da znam za igraca iz Senegala, a to nije jedini primjer bilo je igraca iz raznih dijelova Afrike, Centralne Amerike, Azije koji su napravili transfere u neke od najjacih liga Evrope, zasto to ne bi bilo moguce za klubove iz moje zemlje sa nekim minimalnim ulaganjima. Zasto BiH liga ne bi bila uvodna stepenica za karijere tih igraca i koracanju ka boljim ligama Evrope, profit igraca bi bio privikavanje na evropski stil fudbala, profit klubova bi bili njihovi transferi dalje. Mozemo da zivimo u zabludi koja se ponavlja godinama da smo talentovana nacija, da ne treba stranci da zauzimaju mjesto mladim igracima i slicno. Realnost je ta da fudbal koji se igra u BiH i u Evropi mozemo slobodno da kazemo da su dva sporta. Brzina kojom se igra, fizicki nismo na nivo Evrope, infrastruktura je vec pitanje za druge ljude, ali masu nedostataka mozemo malo da popravimo onim sto nije previse skupo, a to je skauting. Imamo mnogo primjera koristi skautinga od Danskog FC Nordsjælland do vecine klubova u Belgiji, Austriji… Znam da je razlika u plateznoj moci, ali siguran sam da bi bilo prostora za takmicenje sa slicnim.

Da zakljucim, mislim da se nece nista promjeniti previse sto se tice ovoga u BiH. Klubovi imaju ustaljene nacine funkcionisanja. Ja nemam toliki uticaj na javno mnjenje da bih pokrenuo neku raspravu ili samo dao ideju klubovima da ne moraju da zavise od onoga sto im agenti nude, da ne moraju cekati igrace koji nisu nasli ugovore „preko“ i da ne moraju biti zadnja opcija igracima. Uz to mogli bi da profitiraju. Ako bacimo pogled na trenutno stanje najbolji igrac i strijelac lige je trenutno Giorgi Guliashvili iz FK Sarajevo koji se nisu vodili logikom tesko je oko papirologije. Drugi igrac sa nekom najvecom stvarnom vrijednoscu je Abdulmalik Al-Jaber gle cuda jos jedan stranac. Tako da treba da se zapitamo da li je stvarno vrijeme da se okrenemo stvaranju skauting timova i malo mastovitosti tokom prelaznih rokova. Na kraju ovo je samo moje miljenje, mozda nisam najstrucnij i mozda ovo o cemu pisem ima prostora za diskusiju, ali cinjenica je da u svijetu fudbala funkcionise.

Za prvi autorski tekst toliko, ne zamjerite na nekim sitnim greskama ako ih bude. Ocekujem vase komentare. Od jednoumlja nema napretka.