CITY TRADERS
Celtic ready to land £11m Roberts on loan switch
CELTIC are in talks to secure the signing of Manchester City kid Patrick Roberts on loan.
An £11milllion signing from Fulham last summer, the 18-year-old (below) is rated one of English football’s brightest prospects but has managed just three substitute appearances in an injury-troubled start to his City career.
Sportsmail first revealed the Parkhead club’s interest in securing a loan deal earlier this month. And the Scottish champions are set to benefit once again from their close working relationship with Man City scouting chief and former Nike executive Fergal Harkin by securing yet another City fringe star after taking Jason Denayer and John Guidetti. Ronny Deila has said publicly there was little point in signing loan stars unless there was an option to buy. But a 12 or 18-month loan agreement
would hold appeal if Manuel Pellegrini agrees. Former head of English FA development Sir Trevor Brooking last week urged the teenager to get some game time after insisting he was going to waste in City’s reserves. ‘Patrick has the potential to be a special player and an England regular,’ said Sir Trevor. ‘He’s part of a very talented crop of youngsters we have who could win Euro 2020. But he needs to play in order to develop — and that is not happening. ‘He’s only had a few run outs as a sub, one in the league and two in the Capital One Cup. That’s not enough.’ Deila has already secured Danish defender Erik Sviatchenko and is in the process of assessing Croatian holding midfielder Ljuban Crepulja in training at Lennoxtown with a view to a £300,000 deal. Meanwhile, midfielder Callum McGregor insists Celtic must maintain their ruthless edge if they are to set their sights on a historic Treble this season. ‘It’s always difficult to win the Treble,’ said the 22-year-old midfielder. ‘We need to take each game as it comes but in the last few we have played some really good stuff. ‘We’ve scored a lot of goals and been decent defensively. We need to keep that winning mentality and that hunger to keep hitting the back of the net.’