Celtic’s pursuit of Mitchel Bakker may have hit the buffers after PSG confirmed a long-term injury to fellow left-back Juan Bernat.
The Spanish full-back replaced Bakker in his side’s 1-0 win over Metz last night – but suffered the major injury in the closing stages of the clash.
Bernat suffered the horror injury on Wednesday / (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)
Get Football News France reported the news last night, suggesting that Bernat could be out for up to six months.
And now the extent of the injury has been confirmed, as per a tweet from leading football writer Robin Bairner.
🚑 Official: #PSG have confirmed that left-back Juan Bernat has ruptured ligaments in his left knee.
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) September 17, 2020
Bakker will now sense more game-time
Bernat now seems almost certain to sit out the rest of 2020, while an injury of that level could see him miss the whole campaign.
That means that Celtic target Bakker will instantly be promoted from third choice left-back to second, and will fight it out with Layvin Kurzawa.
A shot at more first-team opportunities in Paris should effectively rule out our chances of landing Bakker on loan.
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Bakker should get more PSG game-time now / (Photo by Aurelien Meunier – PSG/PSG via Getty Images)
If we’re honest, it was always a bit of an ambitious move.
A Sky Sports report from last week suggested that Bakker wanted to stay and fight for his place under Thomas Tuchel – and this Bernat development will only have strengthened that belief.
We’ve also been heavily linked with both Ben Davies and Alfie Doughty in recent days, and it now seems like either of those are far more viable transfers.