Belgrade’s two big clubs were left in no doubt where hidden transfer gems can be found following their midweek Europa League drubbings.
Red Star and Partizan saw Serbia’s hopes of continental club glory suffer a massive blow after their representatives were well beaten in their respective first leg ties.
And while it was Scottish and Dutch sides who did the damage, players from further afield were instrumental in the wins.
Alfredo Morelos scored the second for Rangers in their 3-0 Ibrox win over Red Star as he continued to shine in a competition he has thrived in.
Earlier in the evening, compatriot Luis Sinisterra was also on the scoresheet for Feyenoord in their thumping 5-2 win over Red Star’s rivals Partizan in the Serbian capital.
And the pair have earned rave reviews in in the Balkan nation with the duo held up as an example of the bargains that can be found in South America.
“Bought for a bargain, now together they are worth €29 million,” was the headline in Belgrade newspaper Novosti.
They believe Morelos, at 25 three year Sinisterra’s senior, accounts for €13m of that although Rangers might dispute that having knocked back £16 million from Lille at the start of last season.
Morelos was signed for just £1.2 million from Helsinki by Pedro Caixinha and Sinisterra for just less than £2 million from Once Caldas.
The report in Novosti continued: “The guys who reached the big stage by side roads are also an excellent indicator of the good scouting of clubs from Scotland and the Netherlands.
“Morelos, the best shooter, known for his explosive character, arrived at Ibrox stadium from Helsinki at a price of 1.2m euros in 2017, and now his value on the world market has grown like yeast, to as much as 13m.
“Earlier, the staunch Colombian from sunny South America arrived in northern Europe in a transfer worth half a million euros, as much as Helsinki paid Medellin.
“Since 2017, Morelos has scored 113 goals in the blue jersey of the Scottish greats, in 220 matches, as many as 29 in European competitions, thus entering the history of Rangers as the best scorer in the UEFA cups of the famous club of all time.
“He scored the second goal against Zvezda, put the young Strahinja Erakovic in great trouble, and even Aleksandar Dragovic admitted that at the beginning there were problems in keeping the corpulent point guard.
“Sinisterra crossed a similar development path, for which Feyenoord is currently his first European club.
“The scouts of the giant from Rotterdam ‘smelled’ it great and brought it from Colombian Callas for two million euros.
"Now, like Morelos, he is worth much more, as much as €16m, which again shows how good the assessment of the Dutch was. Sinisterra scored 28 goals in 99 matches in the Feyenoord jersey, and assisted on 26 occasions.”
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