Ange Postecoglou has praised Alexandro Bernabei as the summer signing waits for his Celtic career to really take off.
The Bhoys were in the market for a left back over the summer with competition needed for Greg Taylor.
Postecoglou had previously hinted at wanting to explore the possibility of moving into the South American market and Celtic did exactly that.
Celtic pounced to sign Bernabei from Argentinian side Lanus, paying around £3.75million to lure him over to Glasgow.
Ange Postecoglou has praised Alexandro Bernabei
This was seen as a very exciting move for Celtic.
Bernabei had played as a left winger at times in Argentina and a record of five goals and 10 assists in 88 games suggested that he could make a big impact going forward.
Celtic fans have only seen Bernabei in action five times but he has already bagged two assists.
Bernabei has started Celtic’s last two Scottish Premiership games, picking up an assist in each of those games.
It has taken a little while but the 22-year-old is starting to show his ability for Celtic and he will hope to nail down a regular starting role soon.
Bernabei has been having to adjust to life in Scotland; a new climate, a new language, new teammates, bigger expectation levels.
Fans always get excited when new signings arrive and they want to see them in action as soon as possible.
Celtic fans have had to be patient over Bernabei but they are now seeing the fruits of Postecoglou’s approach.
The Australian has now told The Herald that he feels Bernabei has been ‘really good’ in training of late, noting that he has a real desire to improve.
Postecoglou added that he wanted to give Bernabei time but he feels the Argentinian is getting better and better in Celtic training.
“Alexandro has been really good in training, he wants to learn and he has a real appetite for improvement,” said Postecoglou. “We have been able to be measured but there was never any doubt in my mind that he could make an impact – and you will see that from now on.”
“We have also had the luxury of not needing to throw him in, as Greg Taylor has had an outstanding season. We have been able to ease Alexandro in gradually. I wanted to give him time because it is a big change for him, even with the language. It’s better now but that would be a challenge for any young player coming over. If you throw him into a competitive environment it can be a sink or swim scenario. They may thrive immediately but I didn’t see the need to do that. I felt it was better to get him in gradually and you can see him getting better in training all the time,” he added.
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