Antonio Di Natale is getting better with age

Never mind that he turns 34 next month. Di Natale, whose surname means Christmas, has peaked late in the calendar of his career with a scoring rate that defies logic. The season before last, he claimed 29 league goals, 54 per cent of Udinese’s total. In the following campaign, his 28 in 36 matches was the best average in Italy, the third-best in Europe behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

This season, there has been no sign of decline. After failing to find the net in a Champions League qualifier against Arsenal at the Emirates – Udinese’s first match of the season – Di Natale has scored in every one of their five games since. The latest was against Milan on Wednesday, when the champions were held to a 1-1 draw at the San Siro.

Italians are wondering what kind of superstar they might have had were he to have emerged a few years earlier. Scotland fans may remember Di Natale’s cross, converted by Luca Toni at Hampden in 2007, and maybe even his “goal”, wrongly flagged for offside but, in general, he has underachieved at international level, which makes his recent exploits all the more impressive.

Mohamadou Sissoko, the Kilmarnock defender on loan from Udinese, says that Celtic will struggle to contain the little Neapolitan. “I was with him a lot in Udinese. I lived in his house for a while so I know him like a friend. He’s a great guy, a great captain. If you want to do extra training, he will stay behind to help you. He’s always there when you want him to be.

“He was the best player in Italy two years ago, the best player last year, and he has started this season very well. He scores every week, with his left foot, right foot, free kicks, everything. He’s a very good player, the No 1 danger I think. He prefers to play on the left, but he can play anywhere in attack. He is very quick, moving everywhere. He makes it very difficult for defenders. I don’t think Celtic will be used to playing against a striker like this.”

That Di Natale, and indeed Udinese, have maintained their momentum from last season, when they finished fourth in Serie A, is a tribute to their coach, Francesco Guidolin. In the summer, they sold their biggest assets – Alexis Sanchez, Christian Zapata and Goekhan Inler – to Barcelona, Villarreal and Napoli, respectively. “Zapata and Sanchez were big, big players for Udinese,” says Sissoko. “They have picked up two or three new players, but I think it is not the same.”

Udinese, though, will deal with it, as they always do. Despite the example set by Di Natale, who rejected a move to Juventus last year, they are famous for selling players at a healthy profit and unearthing replacements with potential to do the same. Since owner Giampaolo Pozzo took over in 1986, the provincial north-east club, who cannot begin to survive on gate receipts alone, have trawled the world’s unfashionable markets in search of value. By concentrating on second-tier countries (Chile as opposed to Brazil, Switzerland rather than Germany), they have discovered countless promising youngsters who are prepared to accept a relatively low salary for the chance to put themselves in Europe’s shop window.

This is hardly revolutionary, of course. Celtic, too, are buying players in the hope of selling them on – such as Emilio Izaguirre (Honduras), Ki Sung-Yueng (South Korea) and Beram Kayal (Israel) – but Udinese have turned the practice into an art form. Sanchez, who cost Barcelona ¤26 million before bonuses, is the latest in a long line of stars who made their name with the Italian club, from Oliver Bierhoff and Abel Balbo to David Pizarro and Sulley Muntari. In the last decade, Udinese have received well over ¤200m in transfer fees. The Italian financial paper, Il Sole 24 Ore, said that the model ran “like a Swiss watch”. Sissoko believes that Udine, population 175,000, is a forgiving place to experience one of the world’s top leagues. “It’s a small city, with a small stadium, but it’s good for us. When you lose, supporters do not come and say, ‘why are you playing so bad?’”

Fans do not enjoy the repeated loss of key players, but the club’s proven ability to make money from them has elevated the team to another level. Despite home crowds way below the top-flight average, the club have become regulars in the UEFA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in 2009. While Celtic were losing their first Group I match to Atletico Madrid, Udinese were beating Rennes 2-1.

Their worldwide scouting network, said to cost ¤4m a year, discovers so many young players that all cannot be accommodated in Italy. Vast numbers of them are sprinkled about Europe, and beyond, as part of long-term loan arrangements. Sanchez, a Chilean signed at 16, spent two seasons in South America before he pulled on an Udinese shirt.

Many of these players will not make it at the Stadio Friuli, but they can still earn the club a profit. Aberdeen had Nikola Vujadinovic, while Kilmarnock had Sissoko, who has returned to Rugby Park for a second campaign. Spotted playing in Paris, he was given a trial, followed by a five-year contract, but, after four seasons out on loan, the Frenchman has yet to play for his employers. “I think it’s a good thing,” he insists. “I go away for maybe two years and come back to Udinese with more experience. I’m sure they will come to see me here. And if I play well, who knows?”

The problem for Sissoko is that Udinese’s standards are rising, causing expectations to do the same. Last season, at the end of which they secured a Champions League place, they had style as well as substance. Their 20 wins in Serie A was a club record. They were outscored only by Internazionale. In 19 league games on the road, they scored 38 goals, a statistic that Celtic should bear in mind this week.

A 3-1 aggregate defeat by Arsenal forced Udinese to settle for the Europa League this season but the Champions League group stages are tantalisingly close. With a new stadium in the offing, and a revised TV deal – one that distributes revenue more evenly among the Italian clubs – the temptation will be to shoot for the next level by sacrificing one or two of their principles. The suspicion is that they will try harder in future to keep their best players. More money means more ambition. More Di Natales.