Paulo Bernardo, an up-and-coming midfielder hailing from Portugal, was born on 24 January 2002 and stands at an impressive height of 1.8 meters (5ft 10in) and weighs in at a solid 77kg (12st 1lb). Bernardo, full name 'Paulo Bernardo' Gonçalves Bernardo, currently shows off his talent in Celtic's colours, wearing the number 28 jersey on the pitch. Beyond his club career, Bernardo has also demonstrated his skill at an international level, representing Portugal's U21 national team.
Trading in the box-to-box role, Bernardo boasts a market value of approximately £3.5m, corroborated by Transfermarkt.
His journey into professional football started in July 2010 when Bernardo joined Benfica as a trainee in the Liga Portugal. His dedication and talent saw him progress up the ranks, making 17 first-team appearances during his debut 2021-2022 season.
However, in a bid for more game time, January 2023 saw Bernardo transfer on loan to Paços de Ferreira in the Liga Portugal 2. His performance continued to flourish as he made 13 first-team appearances and bagged two goals during the 2022-2023 season.
In September 2023, Bernardo, no stranger to change, took the Glasgow-bound flight and shifted his career to Celtic on loan. Within a year of his departure from Portugal, Bernardo enjoyed a stint in the Premiership, making 22 first-team appearances and netting three goals in his first league campaign with Celtic (2023-2024 season). The 2024-2025 season saw more of his emerging promise as he upped his appearance tally to 28 and added two more goals to his name. As of the current 2025-2026 season, Bernardo has already made five first-team appearances.
Bernardo's performance at Celtic was persuasive enough to convince the Celtic brass to make his loan move permanent. In August 2024, a transfer deal was reached between Benfica and Celtic, with the Scottish giants shelling out around £3.5m for his services. By the commencement of the 2025-2026 season, Bernardo has accumulated an impressive total of 55 first-team appearances and five goals.
Beyond his domestic achievements, Bernardo pulsates in Europe's elite football competitions too. His records include four appearances in the Champions League 2023-2024 for Celtic, two starts in the League Cup 2025-2026, a goal in four appearances during the UEFA U21 qualifiers 2025 for Portugal U21, and four appearances in the Europa League 2025-2026 for Celtic.
