Celtic midfielder should head for the exit door if Martin O’Neill doesn’t start him v Utrecht

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The lack of football on show during Celtic’s draw against Hearts over the weekend was rather worrying.

Even Callum McGregor stated it himself after the Tynecastle tussle, ‘there wasn’t much football in it’, as the Celtic midfield struggled to control or stamp their authority against the Premiership leaders.

Martin O’Neill started McGregor, alongside Benjamin Nygren, who scored a wicked free-kick to open the scoring, and Arne Engels.

And now Celtic host Utrecht on Thursday night in a crucial Europa League clash, with a win booking the Hoops’ ticket into the play-offs.

Given what Celtic produced against Hearts, it’s pretty clear that changes need to be made to the midfield, and O’Neill should look towards the less-fancied Paulo Bernardo.

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Is the Celtic midfield too one-dimensional?

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Paulo Bernardo needs to start Celtic’s crucial Europa League clash against Utrecht

There are suggestions that Celtic are turning down loan offers for Bernardo during the current underwhelming January transfer window.

The 24-year-old has only earned 485 minutes this term, and when you look at the state of the midfield, you wonder why.

Engels needs to be dropped from Celtic’s XI, even Chris Sutton stated that he was ‘hiding’ against Hearts, and Nygren possibly needs to be pushed out wide.

Either way, give Bernardo those regular starts and minutes, and back him to bring control to proceedings because the champions of Scotland are still playing some woeful football.

Celtic predicted XI vs Utrecht

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Does Bernardo have a future at Celtic?

The issue here is that Engels doesn’t exactly light up the world week in and week out, yet he is continually picked again and again.

If you are Bernardo, then you would be pretty frustrated. Perhaps he will stay on this month.

But you just know that if the Portuguese star’s situation doesn’t change, then he will be one of many players heading for the exit door in the summer.

Bernardo had a strong start to his Celtic career, joining from Benfica on loan in 2023, but when he made it permanent, he had been declining.