Former Scotland defender Alan Hutton has reacted to Celtic's signing of Alexandro Bernabei from Lanus, which was confirmed on Thursday morning.
The lowdown: Bernabei signs for Celtic
After weeks of speculation, the 21-year-old completed a medical earlier this week and has now signed a five-year deal with the Hoops. The Argentine left-back is expected to arrive for a reported fee of £3.75m and will provide competition for Greg Taylor in Ange Postecoglou's side.
Bernabei becomes the Bhoys' third summer signing after the club previously confirmed deals for Cameron Carter-Vickers and Benjamin Siegrist, with Jota also a seemingly imminent arrival at Parkhead on a permanent basis in the near future.
The latest: Hutton on Bernabei
Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League full-back and regular BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Hutton has suggested that the Argentina under-21 international can challenge for a starting berth at Parkhead.
The 37-year-old said: “I think he’ll have to have that mindset. There’s no point in coming into a team and thinking that you’re just going to be a squad player.
“By all accounts he’s an aggressive player, he likes to bomb forward and get balls into the box. He scored goals and got assists last season, that tells you the kind of player he is. And he’s the kind of player that Ange Postecoglou wants.
“He wants his fullbacks coming inside or overlapping, creating opportunities for strikers. I think Greg Taylor had a solid season last year, he’s very reliable but he’s not that kind of Kieran Tierney type player who’s going to get forward and put those assists on a platter for people and by all accounts this guy is.
“So he’ll be coming in with a view to starting and really trying to impress. So it’ll be a good battle between the two of them.”
The verdict: Healthy competition
Although Taylor certainly stood up to be counted as Postecoglou's side were crowned Premiership champions last term, finding a player to act as at least an understudy for the seven-cap Scotland international was crucial ahead of a busy 2022/23 campaign which will have the added workload of Champions League football thrown into the mix.
The 24-year-old scored once and provided four assists in 35 appearances across all competitions last season, earning a 6.96 Sofascore rating as he averaged 1.3 key passes, 4.5 successful duels and one interception per league game, as the marauding left-back adapted to the demands of Celtic's manager.
Meanwhile, Bernabei - who was described as 'exciting' by football writer Rithwik Rajendran - has already notched two goals and two assists during the 2022 season in his homeland whilst earning a staggering 7.57 Sofascore rating, winning 7.2 duels and making 1.2 interceptions and 1.2 key passes per game in the Copa Sudamericana.
Both left-back appear to be similar operators in terms of wanting to have an influence in the final third, so the early weeks of the new campaign should make for fascinating viewing to see who Postecoglou opts for as his first-choice in the position.