The Scottish club has already made contact with the midfielder; there is a buyout clause of €7.5 million
Paulo Bernardo’s loan to Celtic is going well, the Scottish club is very satisfied with the performance of the 22-year-old central midfielder and, according to A BOLA, has already given signs to Benfica that it is seriously thinking about moving towards the purchase of the player’s pass definitively.
The loan contract signed with the Reds’ SAD, until the end of this season, has an option to purchase €7.5 million for 70 percent of the transfer, but it is likely that Celtic will push the matter towards the end of the season to try to renegotiate the price.
But the interest of the Scots is gaining more and more consistency and in a scenario very similar to the one set up two seasons ago for Jota, a young striker (also from the Eagles’ formation) who left Luz for Celtic under the same parameters and with a similar option value. stipulated purchase, and then ended up signing permanently for the British club — Jota left for Saudi Arabia at the beginning of this season, plays for Al Ittihad.
Paulo Bernardo has three goals and two assists in 25 games for Celtic, a total of 1,315 minutes of competition; He played in the team’s six Champions League games and started 15 matches.
In the last three he was replaced relatively early (at half-time, 61′ and 63′) and his performance dropped a little, but the quality, also the degree of professionalism demonstrated and the margin of progression he has, convince Celtic and the Scottish fans and Keeping Paulo Bernardo could soon become a priority for the coach, Brendan Rodgers, who, we understand, really likes the Portuguese’s discipline and quality.
Paulo Bernardo spent his entire training at Benfica and was seen as one of the most promising young players of his generation, but the transition from the B team to the main team did not go well.
In 2021/2022, first with Jorge Jesus and then with Nélson Veríssimo, the midfielder was used in 24 matches, but in the following season, with the entry of German coach Roger Schmidt and the arrival of several reinforcements, he lost space in the squad. Paulo Bernardo also played one minute against the Ukrainian side Dinamo Kiev, in Luz, in the play-off for the Champions League (3-0) and 13 minutes in the League Cup against Penafiel (2-0), but always alternated between the group main team and the B team and would end up being loaned, in January 2023, to Paços de Ferreira.
In Paços, the midfielder once again performed at a good level. In half a season, he scored two goals and made two assists in 13 games and became an important player for César Peixoto. «He was a very professional, diligent player, always the first to arrive and the last to leave, but he was also used to football with a big team, with a dominant club. He was already an intelligent player, tactically evolved, technically very strong, but he was also a player without acceleration or deceleration, without changing speed, without the ideal reaction to losing the ball. I spoke to him about it and he immediately showed willingness to work, realized it was important and evolved because he also wanted to evolve. And he changed speed, changed for the better in reacting to the loss, playing with much more aggression in duels”, recalled the then coach of the Pacenses, in an interview with A BOLA, in February.
César Peixoto worked with the midfielder and explains the player’s evolution, which could represent another good deal for Benfica with Scottish side Celtic
Paulo Bernardo spent the pre-season with Schmidt, but did not stay and then went to Glasgow, where he is expected to remain permanently.
In the €100 million club
Paulo Bernardo was seen as a great talent from an early age and SAD’s bet lived up to expectations with a contract renewal in March 2020 — until 2027 and with a €100 million release clause.
He hasn’t made a statement with Schmidt, but Paulo Bernardo remains on the radar. The German coach, in a recent press conference, spoke about the subject of loanees, about Martim Neto (on loan to Gil Vicente) and also about Paulo Bernardo’s performance at Celtic: «All the players we loan out are to give them practice and opportunities. to develop, gain confidence and be increasingly responsible. That’s our idea, to have a good overview. Then, at the end of the season, we will have to make difficult decisions, because we also have to respect the player’s wishes.”
