Even more than a decade ago, Ramon Vega had an eye for an opportunity away from the football field. Here was a multilingual player, boasting a business degree, who had worked at Credit Suisse bank and had a photograph of himself wearing Vivienne Westwood on a catwalk of Milan — and who owned a share of a jewellery shop in Romford named the Ministry of Gold.
On the field, his main job was to smother opportunities, not take them. His performances in defence for Switzerland at Euro 96 earned him a move to Cagliari, in Italy — a land where they love their defenders like nowhere else — but he made little impression.
Within months he had arrived at Tottenham Hotspur for about £3.7 million, a healthy transfer fee at the time. He was booked in his first game, dismissed in his second and quickly earned a reputation for making regular blunders that led to merciless taunts from fans, already angered by the team’s ability to challenge for silverware. He made 64 league appearances and lifted the League Cup in 1999, but enjoyed better success at Celtic, helping them win a domestic treble of trophies in 2001.
He later had a brief spell at Watford before turning his full attention to his business interests.