Now that the season is over, all of the attention of the Celtic fans will be drawn to where Brendan Rodgers will look to strengthen the team for next season.
We all know that a goalkeeper is a priority for the Celtic boss now that Joe Hart has hung up his gloves but that doesn’t take away from the fact that other positions in the team also need attention.
And as Celtic’s two loan stars Adam Idah and Paulo Bernardo return to their parent clubs, Rodgers has a decision to make on whether or not he wants to make both Scottish Cup final heroes a permanent addition to his team.
We all know Brendan Rodgers’ and the Celtic boards’s feelings on the Republic of Ireland international. But for Bernardo, reports suggest that Celtic’s interest is real as they look to negotiate a fee with Benfica for the Portuguese u21 international captain, especially as the 22-year-old ‘wants to stay‘ at the club.
Paulo Bernardo’s ‘immediate future lies at Celtic’
The signs are all pointing towards Bernardo extending his stay at Paradise. And to further bolster that feeling, former Portugal u21 international and Falkirk midfielder, Pedro Moutinho has claimed that the Benfica midfielder’s ‘immediate future’ does lie with the Scottish champions.
Moutinho said [The Celtic Way], “He strikes me as the kind of player who will be a good fit for Celtic moving forward, especially with Rodgers at the helm playing the manager’s brand of football.
“Bernardo can play as a 6, 8 or 10 and could handle playing in all those positions for Celtic if they wanted him to do that. He is a tremendous player.
“Under Rodgers, you could see Bernardo hit his levels in terms of his potential and the Celtic manager would help progress him as a player.
“I don’t think it would be too difficult to convince the player that his immediate future lies with Celtic.
“Bernardo featured in all six Champions League matches last season and bearing in mind the new look Champions League and changes to that tournament format will be coming in next season then he may want to hang around and fancy a crack at that.”
After just one season at Celtic, Bernardo has etched his name into the history books with a league and Scottish Cup double.
The Portuguese was instrumental in carving out Adam Idah’s Hampden winner and also popped up with important goals in Celtic’s defence of the Scottish Premiership.
Should Matt O’Riley leave Celtic this summer then the general school of thought is that Bernardo would be the logical replacement.
One thing is certain though, with the transfer speculation at Celtic already at fever pitch, this summer is going to be a long and exciting one for the Parkhead support.