It appears that Celtic and Brendan Rodgers are working on their first summer transfer, with that man being Paulo Bernardo. The 22-year-old is currently on loan at Celtic Park from Benfica, and the deal has gone well for all involved This is what A Bola are reporting on Thursday,

adding that Celtic are ‘very satisfied’ with the midfielder’s performance, and have ‘already given signs’ that they are ‘seriously thinking’ about buying him permanently. It’s recalled the deal has a €7.5m purchase clause that would allow the Scottish side to do that, but would only get 70% of his deal, leaving 30% of a future transfer fee to Benfica. However, the belief is that Celtic ‘will take the matter to the end of the season to try and renegotiate the price’. This would be a similar deal to the one that took place in the past between the two sides with Jota, who has since left Brendan Rodgers side for Saudi Arabia, where he is under contract with Al-Ittihad. They state that Paulo Bernardo’s level of professionalism and his potential ‘have convinced’ Celtic, meaning that keeping him around ‘will soon become a priority’ for the manager, who is ‘very fond’ of the player’s ‘discipline and quality’. Therefore, the 22-year-old is now ‘expected to remain permanently’ at Celtic, with €7.5m the easy way of getting a deal done.

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