Follow Opinion: Postecogou signing looks finished at Celtic as Rodgers eyes £4m January deal

For all the praise that Ange Postecoglou rightly received with regards to his recruitment at Celtic – Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley and Liel Abada all arriving on his watch – there was still the odd miss in a sea of hits.

Take Alexandro Bernabei for instance.

A £3.75 million acquisition from Argentinian outfit Lanus, Bernabei arrived at Celtic ahead of Postecoglou’s second season at the helm amid lofty expectations and words of encouragement from the straight-talking Hoops boss.

“I spoke to the manager,” Bernabei told Sky Sports at the time. “And he said he believed in me and my quality and that I can adapt to the team quickly.”

Is Alexandro Bernabei finished at Celtic?

Postecoglou’s judgement, for once, proved to be misplaced. With Greg Taylor becoming something of a posterboy for the Ange-era – grasping the manager’s inverted full-back approach brilliantly – Bernabei struggled, lacking the sure-footed technique to thrive in a possession-based system as well as Taylor’s defensive solidity.

“Alexandro Bernabei has been a disappointing signing thus far,” former Hoops hero Kris Commons told the Daily Mail in March.

“Celtic paid £3.75 million to sign him from Argentina last summer. But it’s Taylor who has ended up having an outstanding season.

“(Taylor) has rightly kept Bernabei out of the team.”

Things haven’t got any easier for the Argentina U23 international under Postecoglou’s replacement either. Brendan Rodgers, after all, shares much of his predecessor’s tactical principles. That cameo appearance in the 6-0 hammering of Aberdeen before the November international break was only his third outing of the entire campaign. Perhaps the biggest setback in his Celtic career arrived two months earlier. Bernabei was omitted by Rodgers from Celtic’s Champions League roster.

If that was the first nail in Bernabei’s Celtic coffin, then reports from The Telegraph linking the Glasgow giants with a potential £4 million move for Estoril’s Tiago Araujo may be the second.

Celtic eye Tiago Araujo

22-year-old Araujo, a Benfica academy graduate like Jota and Paulo Bernardo, has two goals and three assists for Estoril this term. Dividing his time between left-back and further forward on the wing.

Valentin Barco, another Argentine, was also linked a couple of weeks ago. He is likely to be too expensive for Celtic in excess of £10 million. But do not rule out Manchester City signing the Boca Juniors flyer before loaning him to Parkhead, a la John Guidetti, Jason Denayer and Patrick Roberts.

But with Araujo a genuine possibility, Bernabei looks destined to go down as one of those rare Postecoglou misses.

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