After once again beating their city rivals to the Scottish Premiership title, Celtic are now set to bolster Brendan Rodgers’ squad with a player he is familiar with.
Familiar faces set to return to Parkhead
The big story out of Celtic in recent weeks has been the ongoing saga around the future of Adam Idah. The Irish striker spent last season on loan from Norwich City and quickly established himself as an integral part of Rodgers’ team.
Recent developments suggest that the Hoops are confident of agreeing a permanent deal for Idah with a fee between £4million and £5million quoted for the player.
Following Joe Hart’s retirement at the conclusion of the previous campaign, a new goalkeeper is also high on Celtic’s list of priorities. Since Hart’s departure, Caoimhin Kelleher of Liverpool and Martin Dubravka of Newcastle United have been the two names circulating. However, current reports suggest a move for Swiss stopper Yvon Mvogo.
With Celtic clearly eager to bring in new players this summer, the club appears to be edging closer towards bringing a popular player back to Parkhead.
Celtic negotiating final details for former star
As reported by Sport Witness, the Portuguese press are claiming that Celtic are ironing out the final details to bring Paulo Bernardo to Parkhead on a permanent deal this summer. The current Benfica man spent last season at Celtic, with the Hoops eager to pay a little over £4million to bring him to Glasgow indefinitely.
This development follows news from last week that talks were taking place over Bernardo but no fee had been agreed on as of yet. The latest report from Sport Witness suggests that the issues over a fee have now been solved with the only matter for discussion being the percentage that Benfica will have on a future transfer.
This news will be music to the ears of Rodgers, who was a big fan of Bernardo during his time at Parkhead last season. Speaking back in January, the Celtic boss sang the praises of the 22-year-old telling the press: “I’m delighted with the emergence of Paulo. There is an agreement with the club, an option for us to activate that, if we want to do it.
“He came in and gradually he has learnt the principles of our play. Leading into the Rangers game last month I knew he was going to start and we wanted to give him a run of matches. He’s been fantastic.
Furthermore, he wears a young shoulder and an ancient head. He’s an elite practitioner. He seems to be maturing as a guy right now, exuding greater confidence among the other players.
Even if Rodgers is talking about a £6.3 million option, Celtic has chosen to engage with Benfica instead. Still, if the deal moves forward, Rodgers will undoubtedly be a tremendous addition for the team next season.
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