BRENDAN RODGERS hasn’t been shy in his praise of Manchester City loanee Patrick Roberts when asked. At the weekend the Irishman went as far as saying if there’s anything within Celtic’s power just to keep the classy midfielder around just a little bit longer then he would pursue it.
Reports suggest Celtic are going to Man Cit with a proposal of on more season on-loan where the player could further develop with more European football and at the same time help further Celtic’s cause.
There’s a lot of parts to the deal, with loans as complicated as some full transfers these days the small print is a very real issue.
There’s then is the big question of does Patrick want to stick around another year? The player moved from Fulham to Man City with the goal of breaking into a very star studded first team. He has the talent to do so and will fancy his chances of breaking through if there’s an opportunity to do so.
This means it would come to to Pep’s vision for Paddy and if he sees him becoming a part of his side. The English youngster rule in the Premier League means it would be beneficial for Pep to keep a hold of the player and give him some game time in cup competitions. While the idea of the rule was to promote English players and give them more game, the larger clubs tend to sit these guys on the bench or in the squad to make their quota – just ask Richard Wright who made a few bob doing nothing for two years at the Etihad.
Celtic fans are desperate to see the tricky winger stay, and are hoping Celtic will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of him. With the manager seemingly putting up a fight, at least the England U20 international isn’t just wandering back down south without a fight from the club.
