Celtic went through a curious couple of days of speculation after it was reported that the club were set to sign central midfielder Bobby Clark for a fee of £6m.
It was claimed that the Hoops were on course to clinch a deal for the 20-year-old RB Salzburg starlet, who is currently on loan at Derby County, in the January transfer window.
However, Brendan Rodgers was quizzed about the link ahead of the clash with Dundee and said: “I wouldn’t normally say anything on anything, but I really don’t know where that has come from at all. Especially in October.”
Whilst it seems like the link to Clark was wide of the mark, it was not a total surprise to see a central midfield link, given that Reo Hatate’s form has tailed off this season.
Why Reo Hatate’s form is a concern for Celtic
The Japan international was in influential presence in midfield last season with a return of ten goals and 14 ‘big chances’ created in 37 outings in the Scottish Premiership, per Sofascore.
Hatate provided a consistent threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals, but that has not been the case for him in the 2025/26 campaign so far.
The 27-year-old star has scored one goal, created one ‘big chance’, and failed to register any assists in six appearances in the Premiership, per Sofascore, as Celtic have failed to score in four of their last nine games in all competitions.
Rodgers needs more from his midfielders from an attacking perspective, because of Hatate’s concerning form, but signing Bobby Clark should not be the answer, as Paulo Bernardo is an even better option than him.
Why Celtic should unleash Paulo Bernardo
The Portugal U21 international has the quality to be the club’s next version of Hatate in the middle of the park, as a central midfielder who can score and create goals for the team.
Clark, meanwhile, has no goals and no assists in nine appearances for Derby in the Championship, per Sofascore, after a return of one goal and no assists in 17 matches in the Austrian Bundesliga for Salzburg in the 2024/25 campaign.
These statistics do not suggest that the English starlet would arrive at Parkhead to provide the goals and assists that the Hoops are currently lacking in midfield.
Paulo Bernardo (Premiership)
23/24
24/25
Starts
11
13
Goals
3
2
Conversion rate
10%
8%
Key passes
11
31
Big chances created
4
5
Assists
3
3
However, as you can see in the table above, Bernardo’s form in his first two full Premiership seasons with the club suggest that he has the potential to deliver quality in the final third.
The Portuguese whiz, who was hailed as “tenacious” by Rodgers, scored five goals and created nine ‘big chances’ in 24 Premiership starts in those two campaigns, which is a fairly impressive haul for a player who did not play week-in-week-out.
His statistics in the Premiership show that he is a better central midfield option than Clark, who has failed to make much of an impact at the top end of the pitch at Salzburg or Derby in the past 18 months, since leaving Liverpool in the summer of 2024.
Unfortunately, though, Rodgers has only handed Bernardo two appearances and one start in the Premiership this season, which means that he has not had many opportunities to showcase his quality in midfield.
Given Hatate’s drop-off in form, the Celtic manager should be looking to unleash the Portuguese talent in the coming weeks because he has the attacking potential to be the club’s next version of the Hatate that they had in the middle of the park last term.
