Leicester City are reportedly interested in signing Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts. According to reports, the Foxes are destined to lose their star player Riyad Mahrez to City eventually and are planning to use the sale of their Algerian as means to leverage a deal for Roberts.
City’s chase for Mahrez is one of those long-drawn-out battles that have gone on for ages now. The initial reports began back in the January transfer window earlier this year when the player went high on the wishlist of Pep Guardiola.
Back in January, Guardiola saw his star winger Leroy Sane get injured and used it as a perfect opportunity to buff up his squad by bringing in the Algerian. City made a deadline day approach for him by offering Leicester an amount of £60m. However, the Foxes turned City down and demanded an astronomical figure of £90m for their star winger.
Naturally, the move collapsed and City have to start all over again now this summer. It is being reported that City are nearing a £60m deal for him but Leicester wants to include Roberts in the package. The former England U-20 international is rated at £15m and should he be included in the deal, the transfer price of Mahrez will cost City up to £75m.
It is being reported that City boss Guardiola is ready to let go of the winger even though he is rated highly by the Spanish tactician. Roberts was signed by City from Fulham for a fee worth of £11m and spent the last two seasons out on loan at Celtic.
He was impressive under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers and helped the Hoops to win a second consecutive domestic treble this season. He was a regular starter for the Celtic team and played an integral role from the wings.
He created a positive impact at the club as he ended his Celtic spell with 23 goals and 33 assists in 118 matches for the Hoops. He was the star player for them from the wings and his creativity was vital for them to carry on their winning run in the domestic circuit. Rodgers had hoped that he would be able to make Roberts stay by going on record back in May, “He’s a player we’d love to keep, he’s a fantastic young player.”.
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However, with Leicester now using the Mahrez token to get Roberts, it seems Celtic are going to miss out on Roberts after all, which might be a very big blow for the Hoops, undoubtedly, to deal with.
