I want to show I’m good to go for Pep
taken that on fully. City is a massive club as well and when I go down there I need to be confident and believe in my own ability and see where it takes me.”
Not that he is ruling out returning to the Parkhead side – either permanently or on a further loan – should he still be deemed surplus to requirements when pre-season is out the way.
“In football you don’t know what could happen,” he said.
“It could turn out good, it could turn out bad. As long as I give it a go.
“I am still a City player so I will go back there and do pre-season. Then we will see what happens from there.”
Discussions are ongoing between Celtic, the player and the FA as to whether Roberts will be able to be at Hampden on May 27 for the bid to complete a Treble or in South Korea hoping to help England Under-20s win the World Cup.
He will be happy either way. While Celtic have no legal obligation to release the player, it may be deemed better for the player’s long-term prospects for him to leave.
“It’s not really up to me,” said Roberts. “It’s for club and country to decide together.
“They’ll come up with the best situation, I’ll just keep playing my football and keep training.
“It’s two big things that I’m proud to be a part of, both the World Cup with England and the chance to play for Celtic in a cup final and win a Treble.
“Like I’ve said, whatever happens happens and I’ll be happy either way.
“The World Cup is coming up quite soon, so I’m sure it’ll be out of the way soon.
“I’m not quite sure what’s going on. I’d love to play in both but obviously that’s not possible.”
BRENDAN Rodgers reckons more Barclays Premier League clubs should be queuing up to loan their best young talent like Patrick Roberts to Celtic – but he will never take a young, Englishbased starlet when there is a youngster of similar quality in his own academy.
With the Ladbrokes Premiership title already in the bag, the Northern Irishman is ready to give youth a chance against St Johnstone this afternoon, with full-back Tony Ralston in line for a start in place of the rested Mikael Lustig.
But as much as blooding young players is part of his DNA as a coach, he envisages further successful loan deals for future Barclays Premier League stars like Roberts in the future.
Detractors would say that such a strategy only succeeds in developing players for other clubs, but the 44-year-old sees it as a way to develop a higher standard of player than you could normally attract and one that could lead to permanent signings in the future.
“There is a huge amount of investment going into academies in England, but the problem is there is nowhere for the players to play,” said Rodgers.
“You have some of the best young players in world football and they don’t get a game.
“So if you are looking for a loan for one of your young players who, okay, might not get a game right now but could be ready in two or three years’ time, where are you going to send them?
“This is the type of club Celtic is. They are going to be educated in football and life here, train well and go back a better player. This is the environment we have here.
“I don’t see it as developing players for other clubs,” he added. “I have a duty to bring in the best players. And I see it as an opportunity.
“I took Gylfi [Sigurdsson] and put him in the team when I was manager at Reading. He got a £10m move on the back of that to Hoffenheim. I went in at Swansea and he wasn’t enjoying his time there.
“So I took him in on a loan at Swansea and got him back enjoying his football. I then went to Liverpool, he went to Tottenham, and it didn’t work out.
“So where does he want to go after? He goes back to Swansea. So you never know what can lead from it.
“But I will never take a boy if he is close to another boy that we have here already.
“The first look is within, always. The academy, what we have got here. But my priority isi to get the best team on the field.”fi
On that subject, Rodgers sees plenty of talent in the youth academy he has at Parkhead.
IT IS just a matter of timing now, and being determined that any young players at the club will have to earn their first team chance.
There is already clamour, for i instance, to introduce Jack Aitchison, the17-year-old who is away playing with Scotland’s Under-17 team, but Rodgers feels that only the most special talents can cut it at first-team level at that age.
“Some of the young boys will g get involved at the weekend,” said Rodgers. “But there is nothing free in this game. There can’t be.
“That is part of what I see in youth development nowadays. Years ago, you earned it. You had to earn the chance to get in. You shouldn’t just be given it. But I love doing it.
“I go back to my first job at Watford and my first signing was an 18-year-old midfield player who I took on-loan and is now captain of Leeds, Liam Bridcutt,” he added.
“At Swansea I put Joe Allen in and put Steven Caulker into the team when he was 19. At Liverpool we had Raheem [Sterling] at 17 and other young players but it is just timing and