Palma 'living through hell' at Celtic as Hoops set out stall over £7m Bernabei sale – Parkhead transfer bulletin
Luis Palma is 'living through hell' at Celtic according to a rather melodramatic report in the player's homeland.
The Honduran winger has struggled for minutes this season even despite the relative lack of depth in his position. He played half an hour off the bench against Dundee United but failed to feature at all against Motherwell and there is a growing sense he could be replaced in January, with suggestions Brendan Rodgers is keen to refresh his wide options.
He's fallen behind Yang in the pecking order with Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest all ahead of him when everyone is fully fit. And, having just started two games in all competitions this season, La Prensa report he is 'living through hell' and 'approaching his final days' in Glasgow. They add that he's 'enduring a nightmare' due to the 'indifference' of Rodgers to him, and go on to speculate over where he could go next.
The report adds that three clubs - Greek side Olympiacos as well as two unnamed MLS teams - have made contact with the player over a possible move.
Elsewhere Cruzeiro have entered the race to sign Alexandro Bernabei, with Celtic said to have delayed making a decision on his future until the new year. The Argentinian full back enjoyed a superb season on loan at Brazilian Serie A club Internacional and was voted into the league's Team of the Year.
Internacional have until the end of this month to turn the loan deal into a permanent one, but they can't afford Celtic's £7 million asking price. And, according to reports in Brazil, Celtic have responded to them by suggesting they could fund the deal in instalments instead. But they have reportedly told the Porto Alegre club they won't make a final decision on his future until next month when the transfer window opens. And that's prompted Cruzeiro to join Palmeiras too in trying to sign the 24-year-old.
Bernabei cost Celtic £3.75 million when he joined from Lanus in June 2022 and the Hoops are set to make a decent profit assuming he does get transferred next month.
As far as incomings go, the Hoops are flying high and unlikely to rock the boat too much in the winter window. But there almost certainly will be an addition or two, with Rodgers earmarking the attacking third as somewhere he could do with more depth.
He said: “We need more. It’s not just for now it’s for our future so we always look to add to our attacking intent. Especially January always gives you the opportunity to do that and I think being able to add goal threats to the team is important.
“We did it last January with Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah came in and made a big difference for us. Especially Adam at that time was a real catalyst for us. So I always think adding goals and creativity and that’s something that hopefully we’ll be able to do in January.”
