ANGE POSTECOGLOU has admitted he is “really excited” about the prospects of Argentinian left-back Alexandro Bernabei.
The young defender, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last month, joined the champions in the summer in a £3.75million deal from top-flight club Lanus.
Postecoglou has refused to rush the player into the first team as he was forced to do last summer with the likes of Swedish centre-half Carl Starfelt and Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi making their first appearances in the 2-1 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle shortly after their arrival in Scotland.
Croatian international Josip Juranovic was played in an unaccustomed left-back slot for his debut at Ibrox while keeper Joe Hart made his debut in the Europa League qualifier against FK Jablonec in the Czech Republic only two days after completing his £1million switch from Spurs.
ALEXANDRO THE FIRST…marauding left-back Bernabei is the first Argentinian player to perform in the green and white hoops.
Postecoglou said: “Because of what happened last year, people probably expected us to throw new signings in straight off the plane again. But this season that was never the plan.
“I wanted to make sure we bedded them in properly, particularly Alexandro. He is one we are really excited about.
“It’s his first time out of Argentina and I didn’t want to throw him in and overwhelm him immediately. We see a really bright future for him and we wanted to integrate him slowly.
“Alexandro wants to learn and he has a real appetite for improvement. We have been able to be measured, but there was never any doubt in my mind that he could make an impact and you will see that from now on.”
Postecoglou, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “We have also had the luxury of not needing to throw him in, as Greg Taylor has had an outstanding season.
CROWDPLEASER…Alexandro Bernabei and the Celtic support.
“We have been able to ease Alexandro in gradually. I wanted to give him time because it is a big change for him, even with the language. That would be a challenge for any young player coming over.
“If you throw him into a competitive environment it can be a sink-or-swim scenario. I didn’t see the need to do that. I felt it was better to get him in gradually and you can see him getting better in training all the time.”
The Hoops gaffer added: “He has the respect of his team-mates and he has improved with every game he has played. We still have 28 league games plus Cups to go, so Alexandro will play his part.
“He has a couple of assists in his last two games and that was part of the attraction with Alexandro.
“He is exciting going forward and in the modern game, if you can get defensive players with good attacking outputs, they are great assets.
UP FOR THE FIGHT…Greg Taylor welcomes the challenge of Alexandro Bernabei for the left-back position.
“We certainly saw that when we scouted Alexandro and we knew that he could be good for us going forward, but he’s also improving the defensive side of his game.
“We have worked closely with him and he’s taking it all on board. We are probably the least surprised by how played against Hibs. He’s only a young guy and there is more to come.”
Bernabei has started the last two Premiership games against St Johnstone in Perth and Hibs at Parkhead.
The adventurous and tigerish back-four operator has looked the part in both victories, 2-1 at McDiramid Park and 6-1 in the east end of Glasgow.
Postecoglou, though, is playing his cards close to his chest and not giving any clues if Bernabei will play against Motherwell at Fir Park in the Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final.
The tussle between the Argentine and the Scotland international will be an in intriguing and entertaining one as the campaign unfolds.
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Motherwell v Celtic this evening – only in your champion CQN.
