Paul Tisdale transfer plan revealed, Palma branded 'high risk' as forgotten £3.5m payday escalates – Celtic news roundup

Paul Tisdale
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


Paul Tisdale's potential Celtic transfer plan has emerged - with an Exeter City ally insiting he would ramp up the player-trading model at the club.

Former City director of football Steve Perryman - who interviewed Tisdale for the St James Park hotseat - worked by his side for 12 years. The 51-year-old - who has branded himself the 'football doctor' - has reportedly been selected as the man to revamp the football operations at Celtic Park.

There's a void to fill within the Scottish Premiership champions after the departures of head of recruitment Mark Lawwell as well as as chief scout Joe Dudgeon last March. And with Celtic managing to snap up a series of big money sales - most recently the record-breaking exit of Matt O'Riley - Perryman has tipped Tisdale to continue the trend.

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He told the Daily Mail: "He signed well, even when we were dealing with the lower-league market. When you are at an Exeter, though - and I think this probably applies to everyone now - you have to have a keen eye and a good judgment on young players.

"At Exeter, he was signing players from under-13 to first-team level and, if you had anything about you then, you could be in the first team by 17. As he did with Ollie Watkins, as he did with Matt Grimes, who is now captain of Swansea.

"He found Ethan Ampadu and put him in the team at the age of 15. He just had great judgment. Judgment in the boardroom, judgment in a trial match where you have 30 or 40 players and you only need three to make up your squad.

‘Judgment in football is critical. And 'Tis' has the brain to get the best out of whatever job he is doing and just doing things right. He is honest, he is honourable, he is likeable and he just does things right."

A transfer windfall that could be incoming to Celtic Park in January is the sale of Alexandro Bernabei. Currently on loan in Brazil at Internacional, the left-back is racking up regular minutes for the club.

With his temporary deal set to expire at the end of the year, the Hoops will be given the chance to recoup some of the £3.75m they spent on the Argentine back in 2022. Club president Alessandro Barcellos has confirmed they want to keep the left-back.

Alexandro Bernabei training with Internacional
Alexandro Bernabei training with Internacional -Credit:Alexandro Bernabei / Instagram

He told Radio Gaucha: “Bernabei is on loan with the club until the end of the year. We still need to work with the club that owns his rights to buy him or extend the loan, whatever the possible strategy.

“We have already started talks with the player’s agent, who has expressed an interest in staying, which is important in the process. We hope to have a favourable outcome, but this will only happen towards the end of the year.

“Our idea is to keep Bernabei, as he increases in value with each game that passes. He is a player who has earned his space, conquered it, and maintained it, and today he is a very important performer for our team.”

Another man who is fighting for his future is Luis Palma - who didn't do himself any harm with a hat-trick in the friendly against Sligo Rovers likely to catch the eye of Brendan Rodgers. The appearance in Ireland came after Honduras manager Reinaldo Rueda opted against calling him up - with Palma making just three appearance for the Hoops so far this term.

Rueda lifted the lid on the decision, stating to El Gráfico: “Luis Palma has faced difficult times after his injury in February. Although he had a good pre-season and some minutes, in the last month he has had no competition.

“It is a high risk for him to be out of his level, especially with complicated games ahead. In the matches against Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, we gave him minutes to stand out for his club, but he has had no recent activity. We hope he recovers, and we can count on him for the next date [international break].”