# Paulo Bernardo (footballer)

Paulo Guilherme Gonçalves Bernardo (Portuguese pronunciation:; born 24 January 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

## Club career
### Early career

A product of S.L. Benfica's youth system, Bernardo played for its ranks and signed his first professional contract with Benfica on 26 February 2018. He made his debut for Benfica's reserve team in a Segunda Liga match against Vilafranquense on 2 February 2020, with manager Renato Paiva praising him as one of the "future stars of the club".

### Benfica

After a promising 2020–21 season with the B team, Bernardo started the 2021–22 season, with various solid performances, leading him to be named Liga Portugal 2's Midfielder of the Month for the months of October and November. On 2 November 2021, Bernardo made his first-team debut coming on the 77th minute in a 5-2 Champions League group stage defeat at Bayern Munich. Later that week, on 7 November 2021, he made his Primeira Liga debut coming on for injured João Mário on the 23rd minute for a 6–1 home win against Braga.
On 31 January 2023, Bernardo was loaned by Paços de Ferreira until the end of the season. On 6 March 2023, Bernardo scored his first goal for Paços de Ferreira in a 2-1 loss against Casa Pia.

### Celtic

On 1 September 2023, Scottish Premiership club Celtic announced the signing of Bernardo on a season-long loan with an option to buy. On 26 December 2023, Bernardo scored his first goal for Celtic in a 0-3 victory over Dundee.
On 1 August 2024, Bernardo returned to Celtic on a permanent transfer, signing a five-year contract.

## International career

With the Portugal under-17s, Bernardo took participated in the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Ireland, playing four matches, scoring one goal as the team lost in the quarter-finals to Italy.
On 6 September 2021, Bernardo won his first cap for the under-21 side, replacing André Almeida in the 73rd minute in a 1–0 victory against Belarus for the 2023 European Championship qualification campaign.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 8 February 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Benfica B | 2019–20 | Liga Portugal 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Benfica B | 2020–21 | Liga Portugal 2 | 17 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 4 |
| Benfica B | 2021–22 | Liga Portugal 2 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | 2 |
| Benfica B | 2022–23 | Liga Portugal 2 | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 1 |
| Benfica B | Total | Total | 38 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | 7 |
| Benfica | 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 17 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Benfica | 2022–23 | Primeira Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Benfica | Total | Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| Paços de Ferreira (loan) | 2022–23 | Primeira Liga | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | 2 |
| Celtic (loan) | 2023–24 | Scottish Premiership | 22 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 4 |
| Celtic | 2024–25 | Scottish Premiership | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| Celtic | Total | Total | 44 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 69 | 7 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 112 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 146 | 16 |

#### Notes

* 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

## Honours

Celtic
* Scottish Premiership: 2023–24
* Scottish Cup: 2023–24
* Scottish League Cup: 2024–25
Individual
* Liga Portugal 2 Midfielder of the Month: October/November 2021