Paulo Bernardo to Celtic transfer 'timeline' revealed but admission about Adam Idah keeps fans waiting

Celtic appear to be inching closer to a deal with Benfica to bring Paulo Bernardo back to the club this summer - with the midfielder keen to get a move sealed imminently.

Playmaker Bernardo spent last season on loan and impressed Brendan Rodgers during the Hoops surge towards the Scottish Premiership title. He also came off the bench to help play a key role in downing Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. There was an option to buy in the region of £6million in his loan agreement but Record Sport revealed that Benfica had been keen to stick to that figure for the 22-year-old.

Reports in Portugal had suggested that a fee has now been agreed - with the final details over a sell-on clause to be ironed out - but it appears that a deal has not been rubber stamped at this stage. The Daily Mail reports that Bernardo is keen on a quick-fire timeline to seal the move. It is claimed that he wants to return to Glasgow in time to fly to the United States next week where Celtic ramp up their pre-season preparations

Another loanee Rodgers wants to see back is Adam Idah - but he may have to be patient to bring the striker back from Norwich City. The Canaries have made it clear that new boss Johannes Hoff Thorup will run the eye over Idah in pre-season but the player has made his position clear.

Record Sport understands that the 23-year-old wants to go back to Celtic. Rodgers made it clear after Idah’s Scottish Cup winner against the Light Blues that he wanted to bring him back to Celtic Park.

But Hoff Thorup appears to have slammed the breaks on any potential deal. Thorup was speaking at a fans’ forum when he was asked about the Ireland striker, and afterwards he told Pinkun: “See it from another perspective. Imagine that he was a striker in another club with his track record, with his history, academy background and so on.

“What would we say about him? We would say he is quite an interesting striker, I would guarantee. It would be wrong for me to say that we cannot spend time on him, or we should not give him a fair chance as well.

“I hope that he will find that the way we do things now will also encourage him, and will also give him the feeling that, ‘Okay this is the right place for me’. That's the ambition for now, because I think he's a good player with some good qualities and (he) could definitely be a striker for us.

“For all the players here, it will be unfair for me to say that, from day one, I will just go and say, ‘Okay, we need this and this and this’. No, I have to give them a chance. We have to see.

“Sometimes players can be surprised. From the beginning we have the thought, ‘Okay, they will maybe not be good enough’, but then you can see in training and some pre-season games that they can take the steps. So I think it's fair for me to give them the chance.”