Celtic have now announced the signing of Alexandro Bernabei after Lanus took the decision to unilaterally confirm the transfer earlier today. The left-back pens a five-year deal at Parkhead.
The Argentinian has also given his first interview with the club as he thanked Celtic and revealed he thinks the stadium, players and club is "incredible". Ange Postecoglou had been seeking a new option at left-back with Boli Bolingoli the only natural alternative to Greg Taylor. They were linked with Hammarby's Mohanad Jeahze, but Argentine Bernebei quickly emerged as the primary target and talks were ongoing throughout June.
He was left out of Lanus' squad to face River Plate at the weekend as he was in Glasgow to get the deal over the line. And his former club Lanus took the unusual step on Thursday of announcing the deal at 11pm local time - 3am in the UK. They confirmed his move to Celtic and that they retain a 10 per cent sell on clause from any future sale of the 21-year-old.
And now Celtic have confirmed the deal, expected to cost them around £3.75m, with an official statement. Bernabei said: “I'm very happy to be here and I feel grateful to the club for giving me this opportunity.
“I feel proud to be playing in Europe because it was one of my dreams and I'm excited to train with and play with my new team-mates. The stadium is just incredible. The people, the club, team-mates, and the coaching staff are all incredible.
"I’m very excited and happy and I can’t wait to be playing in the Champions League. I've heard that the people are crazy, so I can't wait to sense that feeling and emotion in Celtic Park.”
Bernabei will wear Lubo Moravcik and Shunsuke Nakamura’s old squad number of 25. And he added: “I spoke to the manager and he said he believed in me and my quality and that I can adapt to the team quickly.
“This is my first time in Scotland and Glasgow and I’ve seen the city on the internet and it looks very beautiful, so I’m excited to be able to get to know it more. The objective is to become champion and we want to achieve big things as a club and I would like to achieve all of our objectives this year.”
