Nat Phillips to join Celtic on quick-fix deal but door’s open for extended spell in face of injury crisis

The length of Nat Phillips' loan to Celtic have been revealed.

The Liverpool defender is in Glasgow ahead of sealing a switch to the Premiership champions as Brendan Rodgers bolsters his backline after a recent speight of injuries in the centre of defence. Now the Athletic report Phillips will be a Celtic player until at least January, when both clubs and player will assess the situation with the potential for the deal to be extended.

Rodgers is without Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh ahead of this Sunday's derby at Ibrox, so Phillips could be pitched in for a baptism of fire debut against Rangers. That would represent a significant step up intensity for the 26-year-old, who was limited to just seven appearances last season; two in the Premier League, two in the EFL Cup, two in the Premier Reserve League and one in the FA Cup.

Phillips previous had two separate loan spells with Stuttgart before spending the second part of the 21/22 campaign being farmed out to Bournemouth. He doesn't exactly arrive as a complete rookie, but his exposure to first team football is less than many players of his age. Now he must get up to speed quickly with a Premiership title race and Champions League campaign now his primary focus.

He's set to be joined at Parkhead by Paulo Bernardo. A loan deal for the Benfica midfielder is nearing completion after the Hoops made an enquiry for the 21-year-old earlier this summer, but the midfielder's preference was to remain in Lisbon.

However, Benfica boss Roger Schmidt doesn't plan on using the Portugal Under 21 international. So he's taking the opportunity to lay regularly in Glasgow.