Stats show allowing Paul Bernardo to leave Celtic was a serious error
Stats show that letting Paul Bernardo leave on loan in the summer was a serious mistake by Martin O’Neill…
Celtic supporters were more than a little surprised by the decision to let Portuguese midfielder Paulo Bernardo leave on loan during the summer, and it now looks as if Martin O’Neill might be rueing the decision to let the midfielder go.
Bernardo is impressing at Gornik Zabrze
The former Portuguese under 21 skipper joined Polish top flight side Gornik Zabrze on a one year loan deal as Martin O’Neill shuffled his pack to make room for his new additions, some of whom never arrived.
Whilst Martin swooped to bring in the talented Mika Baur in a £6 million move from Paderborn, with the German international now taking his place in the Irishman’s preferred midfield trio alongside Callum McGregor, and Benjamin Nygren, fringe players such as Luke McCowan and loan arrival Oliver Sorensen have continually failed to impress.
Polish side playing Paulo as a number eight
Paulo Bernardo has been featuring consistently in his natural number eight midfield role for Gornik, rather than as a holding player like he was at Celtic last term.
He has registered two assists in 14 appearances for the club up to now, helping them to second in the Polish Ekstraklasa as it stands, just a point behind table-toppers Lech Poznan.
Bernardo has been a standout in his last three appearances in particular, with three chances created in their recent draw against Piast Gliwice, as well as two more in their last outing against Widzew Lodz, while he also made the most ball recoveries (9) of any player on the pitch last Friday.
Bernardo a leader in key metrics
He is a leader for several key metrics among midfielders in the league so far, with 3.59 touches in the opposition box per 90, just 0.93 goals conceded per 90 while he is on the pitch and 0.21 non-penalty xG per 90.
With a new manager almost certainly arriving at Celtic Park next summer, and Bernardo still contracted to the club until 2029, could a second chance await him on his return to Glasgow?
One to keep an eye on.
