There’s a follow up story this evening to one which was reported last month involving South American player, Fernando Henrique and Celtic. The reports initially stated that Ange Postecoglou was interested in bringing the bullish midfielder to Scotland in the January transfer window, but that his club Gremio had already knocked back a bid in the region of £3-4 million for him in the summer time.
Gabriel Barbosa of Flamengo competes for the ball with Fernando Henrique of Gremio during a second leg quarter final match of Copa Do Brasil between Flamengo and Gremio at Maracana Stadium on September 15, 2021 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images)
Henrique has struggled for game time at Gremio of late, and manager Vagnar Mancini may look to cash in on the youngster now rather than let him ruin valuable time in his development as a player. The latest report in Football Scotland also mentions that the Brazilian league, Serie A finishes at the beginning of December, meaning Celtic could tie up the player ahead of the January window opening – leaving merely formalities to be checked off upon his arrival if all goes well.
The original source of the report is from Globo in Henrique’s homeland, which insists that Celtic is very ‘likely’ his next destination come the New Year. This is definitely one to excite the Parkhead faithful; a player from a technical environment, who has bags of potential and in an area of the field we are sorely lacking in bodies.
Further reports in Brazil today Fernando Henrique is to leave Gremio with Celtic favorites to sign the 20 year old.
The Brazil U20 international came through the ranks at ABC Futebol Clube before moving to the Porto Alegre side where he is deployed as a defensive midfielder. pic.twitter.com/pzhoIGS7vT
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) November 16, 2021
Defensive midfield is a position that Celtic have definitely been crying out for quality in in recent years. Not since the imperious Victor Wanyama have we had a tough tackling midfielder who is able to charge from box-to-box for an entire 90 minutes. James McCarthy, who Ange Postecoglou has defended recently just hasn’t been able to make his mark yet, owing to a lack of sharpness and basic match fitness. A player like Henrique could go a seriously long way to regaining our SPFL title this season.
If this one turns out to be true, it could be a fine Christmas present for Ange, the team and the wider Celtic Support. We will all be watching to closely to see how this one unfolds in the days and weeks ahead.
Paul Gillespie
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