Roberts set for return to Parkhead

social media over the last few months with messages pleading for his return. It is expected Celtic will pay just over £2.75m to City in a loan agreement deal and also shoulder a sizeable proportion of Roberts’ salary.

City reckoned the player who they paid £12m to Fulham for would be better off exposed to Premier League football, and had earmarked Southampton as a preferred destination.

It is understood that Nice and Huddersfield were also interested in Roberts, while a move to Spain to Girona was also on the cards at one point.

While minor details have still to be concluded on the deal which is expected to be signed early next week, the belief is that it was Roberts himself who was pivotal in engineering the return to Celtic, with a desire to work under Brendan Rodgers for another year.

Roberts featured for City in their pre-season tour of the United States this summer and played for Pep Guardiola’s side against Manchester United but he was not part of the squad for the opening game of English season against Brighton.

Having been told that he could go back out on loan this season, Roberts has dug his heels in for a return to Celtic.

The player is expected to be signed and registered next week, which means he will be eligible for the group stages of the Champions League should Celtic, with their first leg 5-0 win over Astana, progress into next week’s draw.

The pull of Champions League football has worked in Celtic’s favour although much has to be attributed to Celtic’s desire to get the player back to the club for another season in addition to Roberts’ own feeling that his development was better served in Glasgow.

He will meet Jonny Hayes, Olivier Ntcham and Kundai Benyu who have been added to his squad for the new campaign.

With over a week of the transfer window still remaining, it remains to be seen if there are further additional signings made to bolster the squad ahead of a two-pronged domestic and European assault.