Scottish Premiership champions Celtic failed to get a deal over the line for Birmingham City defender Mitchell Roberts.
Celtic ran out of time to complete a deal for Birmingham City’s Mitchell Roberts before the Scottish transfer window slammed shut on Monday.
According to the Sun, the Hoops were set to snap up the highly-rated young centre-back from under the nose of Manchester City. But a golden chance appears to have passed Celtic by with Roberts set to stay at St Andrews for the time being. While Lee O’Connor and Jeremie Frimpong were posing in green and white, another exciting defensive talent was nowhere to be seen.
It’s not all bad though. Roberts is only contracted to Birmingham until July 2020 after signing a one-year deal three months ago, according to the Blues’ official website.
And unless the Championship outfit take steps to tie an increasingly in-demand talent down to a more watertight contract, they are facing up to a very real possibility of losing one of their most exciting youngsters for a fraction of his market value.
Roberts will be a free agent by the time next summer is in full swing and, who knows, Celtic might already be planning to snap him up on a cut-price deal as early as January.
The phrase ‘patience is a virtue’ comes to mind.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
