Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has had some good things to say about Alexandro Bernabei.
The Argentinian full-back endured a bit of a tough first season at the club. There were occasional highs, like his spectacular strike against Ross County, but many fans were left unconvinced by the player they were watching.
Bernabei arrived as an exciting £3.75million signing (Sky Sports) but spent the season firmly as a back-up to Greg Taylor.
But the arrival of Rodgers may have come at the perfect time for the 22-year-old, as well as a number of other previously out-of-favour Celtic players.
Rodgers was asked about Bernabei at his Thursday press-conference, and had some good things to say about the fresh start his appointment had brought about.
“I’ve obviously spoken to a lot of the players, assessing their qualities and where they’re at,” the Hoops boss said. (Celtic YouTube)
“He’s a player I’ve been able to connect with and just find out a bit more about.
“He’s a player who is really good going forwards. He knows he has to work defensively because it’s fundamental that in order to attack you need to be able to defend, especially if he plays at full-back.
“I think we have a number of players in the squad who haven’t had a great amount of game-time, and the the slate is clean for them.
“A number of those guys have shown up really well in pre-season. I’ve said before, I’ll judge people on merit and what they’ve produced over pre-season rather than what they’ve done before.”
Managers often give the impression that what has gone before is irrelevant. With Rodgers’ arrival you get the impression that is actually the case.
Celtic’s boss will have watched Bernabei play having alluded to watching the Hoops a lot during his time away. He may have had some pre-conceived ideas, but that won’t have compared to actually working with the full-back.
Bernabei is still very raw. He is a peculiar player in the sense that he often seems to do the challenging things well, but fails to complete more simple tasks.
Under Rodgers he has a manager with a strong track record of development talent, with a fair chunk of it being South American.
Bernabei is likely to start the season as back-up to Taylor. Who knows where he will finish it.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers paves the way for Celtic transfer exits this month
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