‘Nothing will change with Pistol Pete’ ‘lucky if he’s on 10K a week’ ‘penny pinching as usual’ Celtic fans split over ‘stumbling block’

Celtic fans are split over a report from Portugal that wages are now the stumbling block to getting Paulo Bernardo signed up on a permanent transfer.

Record of Portugal is a far more reliable source than their Glasgow equivalent, they provided very accurate information on Jota’s move two years ago with the deal for the midfielder expected to follow a similar pattern.

Some fans are doubting the accuracy of the report from Record but others, perhaps more cynical see the influence of Peter Lawwell at play as personal terms again put a Celtic transfer at risk.

From Steven Fletcher to Ivan Toney Celtic have been close to some very significant deals only for the long term CEO and now Chairman to get involved and find a cheaper and subs-standard option elsewhere.

The John McGinn saga of 2018 will forever be pinned on Lawwell as he bluffed with Hibs only to be outsmarted by Aston Villa with Youssouf Mulumbu lined up as Plan B. The former Kilmarnock man barely featured before being written off, much like Albian Ajeti, Vakoun Bayo, Marian Shved, Boli Bolingoli and other costly signings.

The other option is that Record have picked up the wrong end of the stick, when negotiations got underway for Bernardo last August his Benfica wages would be known before the full deal was finalised with an option to buy.

Even the highest paid emerging talents at Benfica aren’t likely to be on wages higher than the core of the Celtic first team players.

At a real push you’d guess that £10,000 a week would be a top wage for someone coming through the Benfica Academy, with a fee agreed at £6m Celtic could expect to be paying out £15-20,000 a week on wages.

Less than Callum McGregor, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Kyogo Furuhashi but noticably more than last summer’s intake of projects such as Odin Thiago-Holm, Luis Palma, Maik Nawrocki and Yang Hyun-jun.

There are now little signs of concern among Celtic fans about transfer activity, or the lack of.

Clearly no goalkeeper has yet been lined up to replace Joe Hart, a new name is introduced everyday but the known sources of information from the club have been almost silenced on that position.

Brendan Rodgers has gone public that he felt the squad he inherited required four quality additions- that was before Jota, Starfelt, Aaron Mooy, Jota, Joe Hart and Liel Abada left.

A fairly serious rebuild is required this summer, a place in the Champions League eases the pressure but with high profile friendlies in the USA on July 21, 24 and 27.

Rodgers will want players signed up, integrated into training and playing in the tight schedule of facing DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea over seven days.