If Everton land Arteta, could he hand Roberts a path to Premier League stardom?

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Mikel Arteta is being heavily linked with the Everton job and, should he be appointed ahead of next season, he should definitely target Patrick Roberts.

Manchester City player Patrick Roberts would present a realistic chance of capturing a City youngster for Mikel Arteta should he land the Everton job ahead of next season.

The former Toffees and Arsenal midfielder is currently working as a part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching team and is being touted to take over from Sam Allardyce at Goodison Park.

With his connection with City, there is no doubt Arteta would attempt to use his relationship and power with the imminent Premier League champions to nab a couple of Etihad stars for his own squad and, in doing so, he may just present on loan Celtic star Patrick Roberts with his most realistic path towards a Premier League career.

Roberts has been on loan with the Bhoys for the past two years, and only has several months left on is current contract. The young English winger first signed on an 18-month deal, only to re-sign ahead of this season for a further year. However, his second stint in Glasgow has been much less successful than his first.

Unfortunately for Roberts, he has missed much of this season through injury and has only recently returned to training, as he continues to work towards match fitness to help his side finish the season as strong as possible.

Nonetheless, Roberts has been a huge success in Scotland, with 18 goals in 70 games, picking up five trophies along the way with the opportunity to extend it to seven come the end of the season.

Everton are well stocked in terms of attacking midfielders in central areas, but would welcome the addition of another wide man to compliment Theo Walcott on the other flank and, if Everton land their former captain, Roberts may fancy a shot with the Merseysiders, as a much more realistic opportunity to gain minutes on the pitch.

That being said, it is believed that Roberts is highly rated by City boss Guardiola, who will always been keen to hang on to home-grown talent for the purposes of meeting squad requirements.

However, Roberts’ City chances are evidently quite slim and, having experienced such a high level of stardom in Scotland, the 21-year-old will likely struggle to adapt to life as a bench-warmer.