Former Celt Vata says SPL clubs should look to Balkans for young, cheap talent

In the eastern Europe of old, a beaten-up Trabant to the right official and a handful of U.S. dollars were enough to secure the signature of a promising strike star of the future.

These days, top targets such as Russian internationals Roman Pavlyuchenko and Yuri Zhirkov can afford to look disdainfully on the riches of the west.

Feast in the east: Roman Pavlyuchenko (above), Razvan Rat (below 3) and Jerko Leko have raised the profile of ex-Iron Curtain players

In comparison to the oil and gas resources at the disposal of eastern European oligarchs, the clubs on the western side of the Continent offer all the comforts of an old Lada. Reliable and functional, but nothing to write home about.

With the Russians clearly out of financial reach, Celtic have turned to Croatians and Romanians instead.

Gabriel Tamas of Auxerre impressed at Euro 2008 alongside Shakhtar defender Razvan Rat, while other targets — such as Croatian midfielder Jerko Leko — also remain on the radar.

At £3million-plus, possibly significantly more, all of the above named are cheaper than those driving Bentleys in Moscow and St Petersburg. But only marginally.

If Celtic truly want to break into the eastern Europe pool of talent, says former Parkhead defender Rudi Vata, then they have but one choice.

The Albanian has offered to show the club’s top men the fields of dreams where the finest young players are being produced away from the eyes of the region’s big clubs.

Vata insists, however, that finding the stars of the future before they become £8m superstars will require both time and effort.

Reacting to news of a £3m bid for Auxerre’s Tamas, Vata told Sportsmail: ‘I have said to Celtic: “Let me take you to Montenegro and the countries where the really good players are being produced.”

‘You can go all over and you can find them young. If you leave it too long, then they go to the big clubs in Belgrade or Zagreb or wherever and the price goes up.

‘It’s the same with the Russians and the Romanians. When these players make it big, then they will always have the quality to go to bigger leagues than Scotland. And even if they want to come, they are so expensive.

‘But if you get to them when they are just starting out, then they are cheaper and easier to sign. If they end up at Partizan Belgrade, Spartak Moscow or Dynamo Zagreb, that’s it — you are talking three to four million Euros just to get them out the door.

‘Look at Dynamo Zagreb. Celtic wanted Ognjen Vukojevic from there but he went to Kiev for £6m.

‘Recently, they have made a £58m profit just by selling players. That’s because they get the best young players early and they do their homework.’

Wheeler-dealer: Vata is now a FIFA agent

Now a FIFA agent, Vata specialises in the Eastern European market, playing a key role in the deals which saw Garry O’Connor both join and leave Lokomotiv Moscow before Vata ended his working relationship with the Scotland striker in acrimonious circumstances.

The tale of how a 22-year-old Vata was forced to claim political asylum whilst playing for his country in the Parcs des Princes in Paris has become part of Scottish football folklore.

The defender joined Celtic 12 months later at a time when the Eastern Bloc still posed an insurmountable barrier to those players hoping to play in the west — a barrier that was even higher in ‘ fortress ’ Albania.

These days, seasoned Romanians, Russians and Croatians have the pick of their teams — invariably finding Scottish football an unattractive prospect.

‘I think Romanian internationals like Tamas come here because they don’t have many options in the really big leagues,’ added Vata. ‘Look at Mutu, the captain of Romania. He is negotiating a £14m move to Roma right now and Christian Chivu of Inter Milan. I don’t think you will see them playing in the SPL any time soon.

‘But if you are playing at Auxerre, then Celtic are, of course, a bigger club and an improvement. To me, the French league is not so different from the Scottish league. One thing which worries me about this player, Tamas, is that I know for a fact that Marseille are desperate for a centre-half and, yet, they are not looking to sign him.

‘If he has not impressed so much in France, then I’m not so sure that Celtic should be looking. But if he’s happy to come, and they are happy to sign him, then everybody is happy.’

Currently, only Marius Niculae, the international team-mate of Tamas, plies his trade in the SPL, at Inverness. Daniel Prodan, an injury-stricken signing for Rangers in the Nineties, was a less flattering advertisement for his homeland.

‘Scotland is not an easy place to come and play football,’ said Vata, in a warning to his former club. ‘The culture is very different in a football sense from other countries and it takes time to adapt.

‘It’s a different environment to play in but, if you have the talent, you have the talent. It’s certainly easier to play for a big club like Celtic or Rangers now than it was when I joined Celtic.

‘The world is becoming smaller and, for eastern European players, it’s easier to adapt. There is not so much of a difference now between countries because lifestyles have improved in the east. The poverty and lack of freedom most countries experienced 20 years ago has all changed.

‘To my mind, if a Romanian player comes here and he is good enough, he will be fine.’