Celtic hero Patrick Roberts set to tell Man City that he wants to rejoin Brendan Rodgers’ side this summer
Attacker has been on pre-season tour with Pep Guardiola's boys but now wants another spell with the Hoops
PATRICK ROBERTS will today tell Manchester City chiefs: Let me go back to Celtic.
Winger Roberts was a huge hit at Parkhead as the stormed to the Treble.
But City bosses don’t see the value of letting him return to Celts on loan, and would rather he moved to another club to get more experience.
Southampton have joined the hunt for the talented youngster, with City reluctant to let him leave permanently.
Nice had been interested in Roberts, but they have signed winger Allan Saint-Maximin from Monaco.
Boss Brendan Rodgers is still desperate to lure Roberts back to Celtic - and the English man will try to force City to let him go back.
Hoops No2 Chris Davies said: “There is a home for Patrick here, but ultimately he belongs to another club.
“It will be a collective decision by the player and the club as to where it’s best for him to go, or whether he stays there.
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“All I know is Patrick did really well for us.
“We loved working with him and hopefully one day we can in the future, but he belongs to another club.
“He has been coming on in games for Manchester City, and started against Manchester United in America.
“So he’s there, he is working and we will see what happens.
“Roberts is a different type of player. He is quite an intricate dribbler in tight spaces.
“He brings a different dimension to the attack, and he would do that to any team, even in the Premier League, because he is quite a unique player. He has real close control.
“When things are tight around the box, Roberts has creativity. We are comfortable with where the squad is at.
“We are always doing our work behind the scenes, speaking to agents, seeing about availability, seeing who could be the right player for Celtic. But we’re happy with where we are.”
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Meanwhile, Davies insists Rodgers wasn’t being disrespectful to Hearts, after Jambos caretaker gaffer Jon Daly slammed the Celts boss following his side’s 4-1 thrashing at Parkhead.
Davies added: “Brendan was asked a question and answered it.
“I’ve worked with Brendan for a long time, and he always bases his work around respect for opposition managers and players.
“My interpretation of it, when I read it, was Brendan was trying to do was show support for another manager.
“Ian Cathro is a young manager, who Brendan doesn’t even know in terms of being a friend or anything like that. He was just trying to show his support.
“The truth is that we are here at Celtic, and we have more important things to worry about than management teams at other clubs.
“We will move on and focus all our energies on Kilmarnock.”
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Meanwhile, Celtic could be in for a windfall after Virgil van Dijk demanded to quit Southampton.
Ex-Celt Van Dijk has been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea, and handed in a transfer request yesterday.
Van Dijk said: “I am incredibly ambitious and want to achieve as much as I can to fulfil my potential.
“I want to play European football again and challenge for major honours, so I would like Southampton to consider the interest in me from top clubs. I have no alternative but to put in a transfer request.”