Roman Eremenko: What team-mates, managers and journalists have said about St Johnstone trialist likened to Jari Litmanen

Roman Eremenko will spend the next few days training with St Johnstone.

The only reason Simo Valakari needs to cast an eye over the classy midfielder, who was capped over 70 times for Finland, is to assess his fitness.

At 37, if signed, he would become the oldest player in the Saints squad by around two years.

There is certainly no questioning Eremenko’s talent and pedigree.

He has amassed numerous Champions League appearances, won titles across Europe, matched himself against the very best players in the world and commanded a £13 million transfer fee.

Saints fans may soon get the chance to make their own judgment on whether his natural ability will see him prosper in the Scottish Premiership now that he is closer to 40 than 30.

What isn’t in doubt is the raft of admirers Eremenko has built up over the years.

Courier Sport picks out five of the best quotes about the Finnish playmaker, whose brother, Alexei, became a cult hero in Scottish football with Kilmarnock.

The supporter

After Eremenko returned to Finland three years ago he signed for HIFK. It was viewed as a coup, going by the comments on fans forums.

One posted: “As a child I played in the same team as Roman for a season or two in Tromsø, Norway.

“He was absolutely the best player I ever saw as a kid. I remember one goal he scored where he played as a goalkeeper. Dribbled the whole opposing team including their goalie and scored.

“He was always going to become a really good footballer.”

The manager

CSKA head coach, Leonid Slutsky, snapped up Eremenko from Rubin Kazan in 2014.

Speaking a few months later as his team prepared to face Manchester City in the Champions League, he said: “Eremenko is a player of highest quality who was chosen because he suits our style, and that’s why he found his feet so fast.

“He can do everything – scoring, passing, defending. Before signing him, I asked our players who is the most difficult opponent to play against, and Pontus Wernbloom named Eremenko. That’s a big compliment.”

The parent

Alexei Eremenko Snr was an excellent footballer, who played alongside Roman at the end of his own career and the beginning of his son’s.

He was asked about Roman’s goal-scoring ability, which flourished with Rubin Kazan and CSKA, and his reluctance to shoot in his younger days.

Alexei said: “It’s a shame because he has got a terrific shot.

“His vision is great, and he thinks about the next move before getting the ball.”

The team-mate

Ex-Saint, Mixu Paatelainen, was asked in 2022 to choose a best XI from his own career, which included the likes of Franck Sauzee, Robbie Keane and Duncan Ferguson, as well as Eremenko, who he played alongside with Finland.

Paatelainen said: “People will ask: ‘Why not Alexei?’ Because he was outstanding for us at Kilmarnock and with Finland.

“But Roman has the work-rate and is really mobile, a little taller. Fantastic shot and excellent awareness, he played for me with Finland and a few months at HIFK after he’d basically retired.

“What a player, a team player. Unbelievable and a real example of how a top player works hard with quality. I wanted to include Jason McAteer because he was quality but I chose Roman.”

The journalist

At 37, playing with Gnistan, Eremenko was still regarded as one of the finest players in the Veikkausliiga, Finland’s top-flight.

In October, football writer, Erkko Meri, wrote a long-read on his unique career and a style of play that made him “a disappearing natural resource” and a “shining example” for every football player.

Meri said: “Roman Eremenko is a kind of yard player from the past. And I don’t mean the description in the typical Finnish sense, where a player squirms aimlessly, broods over the ball, before long loses the playing equipment and is ultimately left with his hands spread wide.

“Eremenko, on the other hand, is a yardstick player who plays to win, does what the game asks of him, and chooses the solution that best supports the game’s primary and most important goal, which is winning.

“Playing is largely about tricking your opponent.

“I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that in Finnish football over the past two decades, there have been two players in particular who have almost perfectly demonstrated what it means to be a step above others in terms of understanding the game.

“Their names are Jari Litmanen and Roman Eremenko.

“That’s why every Finnish football fan should stop for a moment and take a close look at Roman Eremenko’s play – for as long as it’s still possible. At best, we can realize what great players are made of.”