Celtic are in talks to make their first signing of the summer as the board look to back Brendan Rodgers following his success this season.
Celtic eyeing up Idah
Despite a tough season in places, Celtic still ended it by lifting the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup, a domestic double that looked impossible during parts of the campaign.
And their success has seen the Celtic board decide to back Brendan Rodgers in the transfer market, with the club trying to tie up a permanent deal for Adam Idah after the Norwich City loanee hit nine goals in 18 appearances since arriving in January.
£35k-a-week player now "preparing to leave" his club as Celtic lie in wait
He could be on his way to Celtic Park this summer.
ByBen BrowningMay 31, 2024
Rodgers himself wasted no time explaining just how important the 23-year-old was, strongly inferring his desire for a permanent deal to be done.
“The board know how I feel on Adam, that was the reason for bringing him in,” Rodgers said. “He’s been a real catalyst for us, especially over the last few months.
“What he’s done since coming in is show that he’s a goalscorer. He gets different types of goals. He has great movement in the box and he deals with pressure moments. Today, he was like a real number nine sniffing in and around the box.
“He’s been absolutely immense for us and he’s clearly someone I’d like to do something with. Hopefully we can do something. He has a long-term contract at Norwich but he is definitely one I would love to bring back here."
There will also be a need for a new no.1 at Celtic Park following Joe Hart's retirement, but before that there is another deal that the Hoops are hoping to get done.
Celtic locked in talks over permanent Bernardo deal
Now, it has been reported that Celtic's chiefs are locked in talks over a permanent move for midfielder Paulo Bernardo, who appeared 19 times over the course of the Scottish Premiership season as part of his loan spell from Benfica.
During that time, he was singled out for praise by midfield partner Callum McGregor, who admitted he'd like him to stay beyond the summer.
"Paulo has been an important player for us. He has big technical quality and he's a young kid who wants to do well. That's the type of profile we want at the club. Hopefully we can bring him back.
"He's a great lad as well. He works ever so hard and he's a part of the group we have. Obviously the club will decide what happens, but that's certainly the profile we want. You want hungry players who are technically good and can come and make an impact as well."
But Celtic are not willing to pay the £6m option to buy the 22-year-old, who still has three years to run on his £5.8k per week deal in Portugal but is not in Roger Schmidt's plans.
Paulo Bernardo under Brendan Rodgers
Appearances
33
Starts
15
Goals
4
Assists
3
As a result, reports claim that the Bhoys are "trying to negotiate" a lower price for the midfielder, who they do want to keep permanently but not at the cost mooted when the loan agreement was struck.
Should Celtic be successful, they will be hoping that Bernardo can kick on in his second spell at the club as they look to defend their hard-won titles in 12 months time.