Celtic’s pre-season form just continues to go from strength to strength after they thrashed Chelsea on Saturday.
Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have all of his jigsaws in place yet, but the players are steaming ahead and ready to deliver the title again.
After Celtic beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, following the celebrations, talk quickly turned to what needs to be done in the summer transfer market.
Celtic hero Joe Hart had retired and a new goalkeeper was the obvious area that needed sorting out.
The powers that be took their time, but they signed Viljami Sinisalo from Aston Villa and the experience of Kasper Schmeichel – Sinisalo shared what John McGinn told him about Celtic.
But there is plenty more work still to be done, especially with Matt O’Riley’s future at Celtic still up in the air.
You feel, whether the Bhoys keep or lose their star man, more quality in midfield and the final third is needed.
Whilst everyone talks about Adam Idah, ex-Clyde boss Jim Duffy had another name on his mind and how the champions are about to pull off a ‘terrific signing’, as he told Clyde 1.
Duffy stated that the incoming arrival of Paulo Bernardo is going to be ‘great business’ for Celtic after his successful debut spell.
The Benfica star was on loan last term and he won over a lot of fans with his performances, with Duffy now reacting to his expected return.
Paulo Bernardo returning to Celtic
“Bernardo, I think it’s a terrific signing,” said Duffy. “Even at £4 or £5 million, not that you think he is worth it or not. That’s immaterial these days. Sometimes you have to pay over the odds a little bit.
“But when you do that, people label you with that price. It’s just not the player’s fault. If he doesn’t play well, people will say ‘oh, he cost £6 million’.
“But £3.5 million sounds a great piece of business. He has been at Celtic. He knows what the club is about. He knows what it’s like to win a title. He knows the manager, the rest of the players, the expectations of the fans and the style of football. All of these things. He is aware of all the Scottish grounds now, so there are no surprises to him. He will be a better player next year for Celtic. I think last year was a bit of a learning curve for him. I think that is a terrific signing for Celtic, Paulo Bernardo. He will be a really good signing and a really good option, in terms of whether Matt O’Riley stays or doesn’t stay. Great business from Celtic’s perspective.”
Paulo Bernardo will go to the next level under Brendan Rodgers
Just look at O’Riley and the steps he took forward after just working 12 months with Rodgers.
There is no reason why Bernardo can’t do the same because the quality is certainly there in midfield. He just now needs regular starts.
The transfer hasn’t happened yet, but sources have told HITC that Bernardo wants to move to Celtic this summer.
Added to that, Mark Wilson changed his mind about Bernardo after being given the inner details of the deal.
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