Report: Brendan Rodgers was sure Celtic had secured club-record £8m-plus deal for Patrick Roberts

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Celtic ended up signing the Manchester City player on loan instead.

Celtic were ready to pay a club-record £8-million-plus to sign Patrick Roberts permanently from Manchester City, according to The Scottish Sun.

It is claimed Celtic had agreed the ‘outline’ of a deal, which manager Brendan Rodgers was ‘sure’ he had secured, after Roberts told City he did not want to go to any club other than the one with which he spent the past 18 months on loan.

But Rodgers’ City counterpart Pep Guardiola is then said to have performed u-turn, deciding to keep Roberts under his umbrella for at least another 12 months, which caused Celtic to strike another temporary deal instead.

According to the report, Celtic are still paying a seven-figure fee to lend Roberts, whose ‘lucrative’ wage they are also paying a ‘major chunk’ of.

And it is claimed there is ‘every chance’ they will try again to keep the 20-year-old next summer.

Celtic, who completed the loan signing of Paris Saint-Germain forward Odsonne Eduard, set their previous transfer record at £6 million – for John Hartson, Chris Sutton and Neil Lennon – under Martin O’Neill more than a decade ago.