HE could have been fighting relegation at Southampton or Gerona or soaking up the glamour of Nice, but Kris Commons believes that Celtic is the perfect fit for Patrick Roberts at this stage of his career.

It has been a long-running triangular saga with Celtic, Manchester City and the player himself involved in the next step of his career progression and Commons is satisfied that the Parkhead side can provide the platform for Roberts to progress.

The England under-20 internationalist will wear the number 7 jersey at Celtic – pressure in itself – but given the fact he has carried a weighty transfer fee around his shoulders since he was a teenager, he appears to be unburdened by expectancy.

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Savoured by the Hoops support who spent the summer on social media beseeching Roberts to return to the club, Commons expects that plying his trade with a team whose system is entirely suited to his attributes will enhance the development of the player.

“It is always difficult to predict what level a kid will go to,” said Commons. “There isn’t any doubt for me that he is a gifted player, arguably the most technically gifted that I have seen at that age, but you look at someone like Gareth Bale; he is 6’2, he has lightning speed, he has strong, he is technical, he is skilful – you know someone like that will go to a high level.

“Patrick is quick, he is exceptionally skilful and he is a real playmaker but he is small. It is a clever move to go to a team that is the right fit and Celtic is that.

“At Celtic he is playing with a team who play to his strengths; they have the ball all the time, they are always on the front-foot in attack, they want forward play and creative players. Had he gone to a club that was fighting relegation, that was very defensive, who don’t have a lot of possession in games, it wouldn’t nurture his best attributes.

“At Celtic, he already knows what role he is going to play.

“What he needs to learn now is when do you dribble? When do make the simple pass, do the simple thing? Where do you take the pass, make the pass, go for goal? These are all things that he will learn under Rodgers and at Celtic because there are so many opportunities to do it.

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“He has the chance to thrive at Celtic. He has the skills and the technical ability but the experience that comes from playing at the top level and against the kind of players that he will meet in the Champions League is what will give him the experience that can take him up a level again.

“My only wish for him is that he continues to work hard. He will be pushed at Celtic and if he takes that pressure on board and continually wants more of himself then he can really kick on.”

And Commons also believed that the return of Roberts to Celtic puts down another marker from the Parkhead side.

Manchester paid £12m for Roberts and part of the to-ing and fro-ing about where his next move should be comes down to a desire to protect a sound financial investment.

In that respect, Commons believes that there will be opposition teams around the league looking in at Celtic and knowing that they do not intend to concede any ground this term.

Rodgers enjoyed a clean sweep in his inaugural campaign at the club but he will now look to supplement that success with European progress.

“To me every other team in the league looks at Paddy coming back and thinks to themselves, ‘wow.’ He is a £12m player. What other club could bring a player of that calibre up?

“They know what he is capable of and what he can do and the fact that Celtic were his favoured choice says much about the club itself and what they offer. It is a real statement that they don’t intend to let their grip slip in any way.

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“The players will be delighted to see him walk into that dressing room.

“Good players want to get better, they want to improve and every team wants to have players that can inspire them to get to a certain level.

“Obviously there was a sticking point with money between the clubs because the finances of the two clubs would be so far apart but it is a real coup to get Paddy back.

“In many ways you look at Scott Sinclair and James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths and Moussa and Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong and you think that Celtic already have more than enough there.

“Working so hard to get a player of Paddy’s calibre back tells everyone that they don’t want to settle for that, that they want to move it up a level again.”