Paulo Bernardo ‘wanted’ for permanent Celtic transfer but plan to renegotiate Benfica release clause fee

Celtic have "indicated" to Benfica that they are keen to do a permanent deal for Paulo Bernardo, according to reports in Portugal.

The midfielder is currently on a season-long loan from the Lisbon giants, although the deal includes a clause that means a £6million bid would be enough to get Bernardo around the table to discuss making a longer-term switch to the Premiership champions. Now Abola report that the Hoops have made it known that this is something they'd like to do, although the Portuguese publication say of the £6.3 million fee that the Lisbon giants agreed to release him that Celtic "will push the matter towards the end of the season to try to renegotiate the price".

Any concrete moves for the 22-year-old are likely to come closer to the end of the season, with Brendan Rodgers' side locked in a title tussle with Rangers. This is the last season that the Scottish champions are guaranteed a place in the Champions League group stage and as such, neither will have a firm idea of their summer transfer budgets until that is settled one way or another.

Bernardo's Benfica contract - which runs until 2027 - includes a €100m release clause, inserted to rpotect Benfica when the 22-year-old looked like becoming one of their brightest young stars. However, he has failed to make the breakthrough into Roger Schmidt's first team on a regular basis, hence the loan to Parkhead. And that eye-watering amount is separate from any loan agreement with Celtic.

Schmidt admitted recently that he was facing some "difficult" decisions over his loan players. He said: "All the players we loan out are to give them practice and opportunities to develop, gain confidence and be increasingly responsible. That's our idea, to have a good