According to the latest reports from Daily Star, Celtic have missed out on the signing of Patrick Roberts as the Manchester City player had a medical with newly promoted Norwich City. The Hoops were linked with a move for him after his disastrous loan spell with La Liga outfit Girona.
Roberts had an impressive two and a half year spell at Celtic Park when he moved on loan to Glasgow. He managed 18 goals and 26 assists in 78 appearances and was one of the fan favourites at the club. However, Premier League side Norwich City have now made him their first signing of the transfer window.
Why Norwich won the battle for him?
It’s being reported that Manchester City were keen to see Roberts get experience in the Premier League and that seems to be the primary reason why the Hoops have lost out on the winger. The Bhoys are set to lose quite a few players in the summer transfer window as their contracts are expiring.
We feel that Roberts would have been a decent addition even though he had a miserable spell at Girona recently. Roberts made just six starts for them and failed to play the full 90 minutes throughout the campaign. Girona also got relegated from the top division.
Not really a blow for Celtic
The Bhoys are set to lose the likes of Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah in the transfer window. They have a top class right winger in the form of James Forrest, but they have struggled when he has been out due to injury.
However, the emergence of 16-year-old Karamoko Dembele might change that a bit in the next season as he impressed in his cameos recently. Celtic also secured the signing of Maryn Shved in January who is a right winger and is set to join the club in the summer. So losing out on Roberts might not be that big a blow for the club.
Arguments for signing Roberts again
Nevertheless, Roberts is a versatile attacker, and he would have slotted in well at other positions as well apart from his favoured right wing spot. Moreover, he wouldn’t have taken much time to settle in at the club as he already had a good amount of experience of the Scottish Premiership. Therefore he would have been a safe signing for the club. His pace, dribbling skills and trickery caused a lot of problem to the defenders, and he improved with his final product as he became more experienced.
