Worse than Taylor: Ange endured rare Celtic howler with signing of “weak” £3.75m dud –

In the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon, Celtic defeated Motherwell 3-1 at Fir Park thanks to two goals in stoppage time.

After halftime, Brendan Rodgers substituted Adam Idah, a Norwich City loanee, for Kyogo Furuhashi. The Ireland international scored twice to give the Hoops the lead after they had fallen behind 1-0.

In his four league games for the team, the 23-year-old striker has already netted four goals, and he seems to be one of the manager’s greatest additions of the year.

During his two years with the club, the Australian strategist made several incredible additions, with Yogo, Jota, and O’Riley being some of the most noteworthy. He also rarely missed in the transfer market.

But Postecoglou wasn’t always correct, and Argentina’s Alexandro Bernabei, a washout who has struggled in Glasgow and is inferior to current first-choice Greg Taylor, is one example of that.

How much Celtic paid for Alexandro Bernabei

The Scottish giants swooped to sign the defender from Lanus, in his home country, for a fee within the region of £3.75m in the summer of 2022.

Upon signing for the Hoops, Bernabei revealed that the manager had faith in him and his ability to adapt to life in Scotland quickly to make an impact on the pitch.

It was a hefty price to pay for a young left-back, especially considering that the team had to pay £3 million to recruit Taylor in 2019 from Kilmarnock, who had not even made 100 appearances in the first team.

Before Celtic decided to move the Argentina U23 international to the Premiership, he had played 88 professional games for Lanus.

However, he had made 23 league starts for his previous team in the Liga Profesional that year, establishing himself as a regular starter.

As you can see in the table above, there were some warning signs for Celtic in his performances in his home country as opposition players found it a little bit too easy to get the better of him at times.

He was dribbled past 1.4 times per game and lost more than half of his physical duels across those 24 league outings throughout the 2021 season.

These statistics did not suggest that Bernabei was set to make a huge impact at the top end of the pitch as an attacking left-back, with a lack of goals and assists, or that he would be able to deal with the physicality of Scottish football.

Of course, the young full-back was signed at the age of 21 and Postecoglou may have viewed him as a long-term signing who could develop his game in and out of possession.

Alexandro Bernabei’s Celtic career in numbers

It has not gone to plan for the now-23-year-old defender, though, as he has struggled badly in the Premiership and failed to establish himself as a regular option for either of his managers.

Postecoglou handed him 15 appearances and nine starts in the Scottish top-flight during the 2022/23 campaign as Taylor retained his place as the first-choice at left-back.

The Argentine dynamo did provide an attacking threat down the left flank with one goal and three assists in those nine league outings, which is a return of one assist every three starts on average.

Nevertheless, Bernabei had trouble passing the ball because he lacked the physicality that the Scottish league demanded of a left-back.

In his 15 Premiership outings, the 23-year-old dud lost 60% of his duels, including 63% of his clashes on the deck, demonstrating that opposing players found it far too simple to overcome him.

In those nine starts, the youthful flop was also dribbled past 14 times and gave up a penalty, showing that he was not a reliable defensive presence at the back for Postecoglou.

As the table above illustrates, Bernabei has likewise had difficulty returning to his best under Rodgers in the Premiership thus far in the 2023–2024 season.

The former Hoops full-back Mark Wilson recently criticized the Argentine defender for his “weak” defensive effort. He has not contributed anything offensively and has continued to play poorly off the ball as the opponent has outplayed him too easily.

In other words, by signing Postecoglou, who cost over £750k more than Taylor yet is inferior to the Scotland international, Postecoglou suffered a rare transfer gaffe.

Greg Taylor’s season in numbers

The former standout player for Kilmarnock has been Rodgers’ first pick at the number three spot and has produced fantastic results for the Hoops.

Taylor (eight) has produced less “big chances” for teammates in the Premiership this season than Luis Palma (12), which emphasizes the outstanding effort the Scottish star has done at the top of the pitch.

The 26-year-old wizard, who has two goals to his credit, has made 1.9 crucial passes per contest and on Sunday, his superb left-footed cross set up Idah’s equalizer against Motherwell.

Therefore, Taylor is a better option for Rodgers than Bernabei as opponents find it harder to dribble past him, win a lower percentage of their duels against him, and the Scottish gem has the quality to offer more in possession.

Therefore, Postecoglou had a howler with the signing of the Argentine dud as he cost more than the Scotland international, despite currently being worse than the ex-Killie ace.