Patrick Roberts is coming back to Celtic, for reals
Will he or won’t he? No summer transfer rumor has been more intently followed than the fate of Patrick Roberts. It appears that is all about to come to an end though, and Celtic fans should be giddy.
According to a report by BBC Scotland, Roberts will return to Celtic next week on a year-long loan deal.
It has been an interesting summer for the Man City man, who clearly wasn’t in the long-term plans for the Sky Blues despite him going on tour to the United States in July and being named to the 18-man sides for a few other friendlies.
Most of his summer was spent being courted by other teams. French side Nice had extreme interest and even fellow English Premiership side Southampton were linked with a move for him.
Instead, Roberts tried hard to hold out for a move north to Glasgow once again. What isn’t known is if this move is just to by Man City time to fit him in to its long-term plan or if Celtic are securing this loan with the idea of working throughout the year to secure a permanent move.
The latter seems likely, as Roberts clearly wants to be in the Hoops and Manchester City had every opportunity to fit him in to their plans. Instead, they went out and bought a top-quality right winger and seemed to cast Roberts to the side mostly.
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Of course, it will be hard to believe this move is really happening until we see Roberts holding up his Celtic shirt once again (and thank god I held out on buying a kit until this was all settled).
Countless claims of a return for Roberts have happened before this summer, but when credible and reliable news outlets are reporting it this time, well you have to start to really believe.
It should be a massive boost to Celtic’s attack heading in to the Champions League group stage as well. He’s a menace on the wing and with the injuries up front has shown to be a good goal-scoring target as a striker as well.
Even with the signing of Jonny Hayes and James Forrest’s quality performances this season, Roberts is on another level. He gives Celtic an advantage in European football and makes this side stronger overall.
Scoring 17 times in 60 appearances ain’t too shabby. What became most impressive was his progression over time — going from fringe player to arguably our best player on the pitch by the end of last season.
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Welcome back to the club Paddy, now go get your bromance on with Kieran Tierney. We all know it was the deciding factor after all.