Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that the Scottish champions wanted to sign Patrick Roberts permanently but Manchester city did not want to get rid of the player permanently.
Roberts returned to Celtic on loan this summer after having impressed under Rodgers during his previous loan spell. The 20-year-old winger is a key player for the Hoops now and it is understandable why Rodgers wanted to sign him permanently.
Currently, the Celtic transfer record stands at £6million for both Chris Sutton and John Hartson and the Scottish giants would have paid £30m for Roberts.
The player is very highly rated by Manchester City and they must be hoping to use him at some point in future. For now, a loan move benefits both the player and his parent club. City cannot offer him regular first team football and he needs to play in order to continue his development.
Speaking to the media about the situation, Brendan Rodgers said:
We would have broken our transfer record for Patrick. We wanted to find the deal that would get him back here. But he’s a Manchester City player. We could have offered them £30m and they would have said no. They didn’t want to sell. So the best option was to get him back on loan.
Earlier this summer, Roberts revealed that the Celtic fans and the manager are the main reasons why he decided to return to Celtic Park on loan. The young winger had other options as well.
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