A door has opened at Celtic for Paulo Bernardo following the departure of Matt O’Riley.
The 22-year-old initially joined Celtic last season from Benfica on a season-long loan deal and it resulted in many good moments, including playing a part in Adam Idah’s late winner in the Scottish Cup final.
But with O’Riley leaving for Brighton, it has now meant that Bernardo, who signed for good this summer, is now a regular starter under Brendan Rodgers.
Celtic outclassed Rangers at Parkhead on Sunday and Barry Ferguson lauded the performance of Bernardo in the middle of the park.
Last season, he only got a run of starts when Reo Hatate got injured, and in truth, he faired well over the winter period and he scored some useful goals, including against Rangers.
But now, the starting midfield is Bhoys captain Callum McGregor, Bernardo and Hatate, although Celtic’s club-record signing, Arne Engels will have something to say about that.
The great thing about Bernardo is that he is one year younger than O’Riley and you would back Rodgers to take his game to serious levels in these coming years.
Former Rangers captain Ferguson labelled the goalscoring midfielder as ‘technically gifted’ after his performance in the Glasgow derby.
But Ferguson added that he was left ‘surprised’ by Bernardo and the sheer size of him in the middle of the park, as he told Go Radio.
Paulo Bernardo impresses for Celtic
“Until he come off, he definitely impressed me in the middle of the pitch,” said Ferguson. “I think he has improved since last year.
“I watched the game last week against St Mirren and he come in. All the talk was about O’Riley (leaving), wasn’t it? O’Riley has been a massive part of what Celtic have achieved over the last couple of years.
“I think he (Bernardo) is at an age where he still has a bit of improvement to go. But you can see he is technically gifted. As I mentioned it to you, I was surprised at the size of him and it’s always good to have a midfielder who has a bit of a physical presence about him. I think he has got that.”
Paulo Bernardo can reach Matt O’Riley levels
Unfortunately, Celtic have to accept that they are in a situation where they buy cheap, build the player up and then move them on for big dough.
READ MORE: £3m man’s Celtic struggles explained with new boss ‘convinced’ he’ll thrive after leaving
You sense the same could happen to Bernardo because he has every quality in his locker to reach the levels O’Riley hit in his final season at the club.
Celtic are in Champions League action after the international break and many feel this draw is far more favourable than the ones they have had in the past.
The standout ties are the trips to Dortmund and Villa Park – but the latter game will be the final group game of the newly-formed tournament.
The post Barry Ferguson hails improvement in ‘technically gifted’ Celtic star who has ‘surprised’ him appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/0tcIKl7
No comments: