Marvin Bartley explains why Paulo Bernardo has been ‘extremely unlucky’ at Celtic

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All the chatter surrounding Celtic this season has been about how Brendan Rodgers could replace Matt O’Riley if he left the club in the summer.

The Danish midfielder was eventually sold to Brighton for £30m which paved the way for Brendan Rodgers to bring in Paulo Bernardo from Benfica.

Many Celtic fans believed that the Portuguese midfielder was in line to replace O’Riley but that was before Rodgers splashed £11m on Belgian midfielder Arne Engels.

And now, it seems that Engels is the preferred starter for Celtic after superb performances against Hearts and Slovan Bratislava.

Which is why Marvin Bartley believes Bernardo can count himself as ‘extremely unlucky’ at Celtic.

‘Fantastic’ Bernardo is ‘extremely unlucky’ at Celtic

The Portuguese was a starter in the 3-0 wins over St Mirren and Rangers and played very well in both games which led to Bartley saying Bernardo has been harshly treated at Celtic.

Bartley told Premier Sports, “He’s been fantastic. He had to be patient when he first came in on loan and obviously, with Matt O’Riley leaving this season and in the St Mirren game I thought he was absolutely outstanding and then in the derby, he was the same again.

“So he’s probably the one player who can find himself in an extremely unlucky position because he got his opportunity, he took it and he was still replaced.

“But when you bring in a centre midfielder for £11m, it happens. He’ll put on a clinic today. He’s a top, top midfielder and he’s only going to get better.”

Bernardo will be key for Celtic this season

Brendan Rodgers’ summer pursuit of the Portuguese midfielder proves that the Celtic boss rates him highly and at just 22, Bernardo has plenty of time to bed in at the club.

Playing alongside players like Arne Engels, Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor will only improve Bernardo as a footballer and with McGregor’s gametime likely to be managed this season, Bernardo will get minutes.

Being Portugal’s U21 captain also shows that at his age, Bernardo has pedigree and if he continues to develop at his current rate then Celtic will have a real player on their hands.