Matt O'Riley's Celtic transfer exit irrelevant to Paulo Bernardo as he declares 'I want his place'

Paulo Bernardo insists he can be the man to fill Matt O'Riley's boots at Celtic.

The Portuguese star is determined to make a major impact having completed his £3.5million permanent switch from Benfica, insisting the sky’s the limit. Bernardo grew through his loan spell last term and now he wants to be a leader within the squad and give back-up to skipper Callum McGregor – whether O’Riley stays or not amid interest from England and abroad. He said: “I don’t know what will happen. I’m here to do my job and if he stays or not I want to take the place, that’s it. I feel I will work for sure and get my opportunities too.”

Rodgers elevated O’Riley’s game after arriving before the start of last season and Bernardo said: “That’s my goal, to level up the numbers and all the players want that. I feel the sky’s the limit, I always live that way.”

Bernardo is determined to be a figurehead in the Celtic dressing room and added: “My manager in Portugal says that every player has to be a captain and the armband is only like a representative for the team.

“I have this leadership in me. Every player has to be a captain. Callum is a great captain and for me he’s the best leader that I’ve had before.

"But he can call for more players to do that, to help him. I got to be a captain in the 21s from Portugal so it was really nice to be in that position. Now that I have come back, I know my team-mates well now. I can improve myself, too.”

Bernardo is also hoping that his permanent move to Celtic will open the door for him to burst into the senior Portugal squad. The playmaker has been a skipper for the Under-21 side and now wants to step up and reach the levels of senior stars such as Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.

Bernardo said: