Sunderland are set to win the race to sign Manchester City misfit Patrick Roberts after fighting off competition from the winger’s former club Celtic, as reported by the Northern Echo.
Few would have believed it if you’d told them, some five years ago, that Aiden McGeady, Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts would be plying their trade in the third tier of English football come 2021/22.
Roberts, a former England U20 international who set Man City back a cool £12 million, was ripping it up on Scottish soil only a few years ago.
The elegant, left-footed wideman produced 11 goals and a staggering 19 assists during a second of three seasons on loan at Celtic.
He won seven trophies north of the border, too, and even scored a brilliant Champions League goal against his parent club in December 2016.
“He has potential. I am so happy with his performance,” Pep Guardiola told the BBC at the time.
Five years on, Roberts will be going head-to-head with Doncaster, Cheltenham and Wimbledon, rather than Man City, Monchengladbach and Barcelona.
His fall as been as rapid as his rise.
Is Patrick Roberts better off at Celtic than Sunderland?
According to the Northern Echo, Sunderland are set to add the 24-year-old to their already well-stocked frontline.
Roberts, a free-agent this summer, has played just once since joining Troyes on loan a few months ago.
This continues a dreadful run of loan-spells. Roberts also failed to make much of an impact at Girona, Norwich City, Middlesbrough and Derby County.
Sunderland boss Lee Johnson will be hoping he can snap that particular trend. His free-flowing, attacking style of football certainly bodes well for a swashbuckling creative force like Roberts.
The Echo adds that Celtic made ‘an approach’ to bring Roberts back for a fourth spell at Parkhead this month.
But with James Forrest, Filipe Jota, Kyogo Furuhashi, Mikey Johnston, Liel Abada and new arrival Daizen Maeda also at Ange Postecoglou’s disposal, it’s hard to see a place for Roberts in Celtic’s current squad.
“Patrick is more a David Silva type,” former Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers once said of Roberts. “He looks like he has an eye for goal. He’s very young and he looks a talent.”
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