Ronny Deila has insisted that any loan move for Patrick Roberts will only come to fruition if the deal stretches for longer than six months.

Deila’s relationship with Premiership giants Manchester City has resulted in loans deals for Jason Denayer and John Guidetti as well as a switch for Dedryck Boyata this summer.

However, as Deila explained to SportTimes earlier this week, he is reluctant to bring in any players on short-term loan deals since he is trying to mould a team capable of negotiating the three rounds of qualifiers that Celtic will have to play this summer in order to reach the Champions League group stages.

The Norwegian is looking to bring 18-year-old right-winger Roberts – a £12m signing from Fulham this summer – to the club on a long-term loan deal in order to ensure that he is still there at the critical juncture of Celtic’s season when the qualifiers come round.

“This is a name which is coming up again,” said Deila. “We will comment on things when it is done. We will see what is happening on Monday.

“We will not take a player on loan to have him only until the summer, he would have to be something special. If it’s going to be loans then it has to be longer than just to the summer.

“If not, there is not anything to think about. We have a lot of players. We have to think is it somebody who can make a difference into next season as well.

"You have my word on that.

“ If it happens, then there has to be something special that we need at that time, to the summer, or else it’s going to be a longer loan.”

And Deila has insisted that bringing in an 18-year-old from England is not a slap in the face to the youngsters who are at Celtic at the minute.

“It’s important to understand that as long as you are at Celtic you are going to have competition,” said the Norwegian. “There are no youngsters or any other players who can sit here and think they own a place or they have the right to play.

“You have to fight yourself into a place because the demands at this club are unbelievable. You have to be good enough and I see in training every day when players are good enough. “And when they are good enough they play, and I don’t care if they have played 100 times in the Premiership or if they haven’t played anything. I pick the players who have been the best.

“If someone is comes in and Aiden Nesbitt is better, he will play. That is easy. Also, I brought in two or three players from Manchester City and also African players into Stromsgodset and they showed what talent is and what hard work is, so they showed the youngsters what you really have to do to get into that level.

“It is good to test yourself against the best talents who are out there in Britain or Europe or the world. That’s the positive from being at Celtic because every day you can judge yourself up against the best players in Scotland and have played in the Champions League or who have 50 caps.”