Former Celtic boss Tony Mowbray has been raving about former Hoops winger Patrick Roberts and believes he is ‘better than Sunderland’.
Mowbray has now been working alongside Roberts for six months as the winger has really impressed him.
Sunderland are currently one point off a play-off spot in the EFL Championship and Roberts has proved to be a big part of that as the 26-year-old has made 26 league appearances for The Black Cats having contributed four goals and four assists.
He was a big hit in Glasgow under the watch of Brendan Rodgers where he played a huge part in helping the club win back to back trebles before seeking a new challenge in Spain.
Having still been tied to Manchester City, he has experienced a number of different loan spells at clubs such as Norwich City, Middlesborough, Derby County and Troyes but he now has a new place to call home after permanently signing for Sunderland in the summer of 2022.
Many Celtic fans know just how good a player he is and Mowbray just has to agree with them as he reckons he should be playing at a higher level although he has no complaints about having him in his team at the moment as they push for promotion to the Premier League.
“Hopefully the penny is dropping for Pat,” said Mowbray as quoted by [Football Scotland].
“He’s an amazing footballer and I hope we can help him play in the Premier League. I think he’s starting to live the life of a footballer from what I can see.
“He’s lost two-and-a-half kilos in the last few weeks. I’m just trying to make him live like a footballer. Patrick Roberts shouldn’t be playing in League One or even, with total respect to this football club, he should be playing in the Premier League in my opinion.
“And so he has to live like it. It’s down to him, I know I maximised my career, to get to where I got in football, I wasn’t a superstar.
“I was just a centre-half who used to try and win headers, but I got the most out of myself by living the life – eating, sleeping, drinking. I haven’t drank alcohol since the age of 18 because I wanted to be the best footballer I can be.
“I have these conversations with Pat. He should be earning hundreds of thousands a week playing in the Premier League and living the life that his talent deserves, and yet he was playing in League One for Sunderland.”
