Patrick Roberts opens the door on long-term permanent move to Celtic

The 20-year-old winger returned to training at Lennoxtown yesterday afternoon but could yet be a Celtic player over the long-term.

It was Roberts who drove the return to Celtic this summer with parent club Manchester City keen on him going elsewhere.

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The Parkhead side made attempts to sign the player on a permanent deal but were rebuffed by the Pep Guardiola’s team.

“You never know in football, as I said last year and here I am back again,” said Roberts. “Celtic did try to get the permanent move but in fairness to City they wanted to keep me and said that couldn’t happen. It gives me a bit of hope obviously they still think I have a long-term future which is good for me. They will let me express myself up here and enjoy my season.”

And Roberts believes that he impressed his own desire for a return to Celtic to Manchester City’s hierarchy, who eventually trusted him to make the right call.

“Discussions went on throughout pre-season,” he explained. “You have to find the right option. Talking to them, I said I felt it was in my best interests to come back here.

“Luckily enough they listened to me and took it on board. We had a good discussion about it. “I was just thinking about my own development and where I felt I would improve. That was here and I’ve made that decision. I don’t regret it. I back myself to improve this season.

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“The bigger picture for me is to be the best player I can be and play in the best league in the world. For me, it is just to improve every day and get better working with the manager. You never know what can happen in football so hopefully my career goes the way I plan it to be.”

And Roberts has also maintained that he has no regrets about missing out on World Cup success with England’s U20 squad in order to make history with Celtic.

Roberts turned his back on England’s World Cup campaign in South Korea to help Rodgers’ side to a domestic treble for only the fourth time.

England went on to win the tournament and, Roberts, who had played in every qualifier to get the team to the finals, insisted that he still believes he made the right decision.

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“The World Cup is obviously massive but it was just the start of the tournament and you don’t know how that is going to pan out,” he said. “You don’t have a crystal ball to see if they are going to win it or not and we had a massive chance here to go and make history.

“For me that was so important to me, to start and finish the season in the same way and that will always be right up there for me in my career highlights, whatever I go on to do. So, no regrets about that.”