Former Chelsea ace Joe Cole reckons Celtic's Champions League success comes down to "clever business" off the pitch.

The pundit stated the Parkhead club had been a "non-entity" in Europe as he remarked on previous campaigns but insisted there is potential to make an impact under Brendan Rodgers.

Cole - who was appearing on TNT Sports - cited the recruitment done by Celtic as a crucial factor in having success in Europe following the 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava.

He suggested Celtic could continue to follow the model of signing players form untapped markets - like Kyogo Furuahsi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda - as well as shelling out decent transfer fees for prospects and taking them to the next level.

A recent example would be Matt O'Riley after he was signed for a bargain fee before being sold to Brighton for a record fee.

He said: "Going back to the structure of the club, they have clearly identified the Japanese market - those three lads have been fantastic. With a little bit of clever business, you can attract some fantastic young players.

"You look at Erling Haaland, where he started, coming through at Molde then going to Dortmund and Manchester United. There was a clear path for him.

Read more: 

"At Celtic, you could identify not quite the best young players in the world because they are still going to be taken but identify someone and go and pay money for them.

"Say, 'Come and play for us, we are going to have 70 per cent possession in the league games you are going to get exposure to Europe, you are going to play in front of this great crowd. We can develop you, it is on us to make you a great player. We have got a great coach who develops players. After you do two or three years with us we will sell you, happily and we'll get the next one.'

"If you couple that with your Callum McGregor's of this world, your Kasper Schmeichel's and players coming to the end of their career, Celtic can really capitalise on this format.

"For so many years they were in the doldrums, a non-entity in Europe, they weren't there. With this team they can have a go and I feel the club have got their business in the right area."