After failing to work his way into Manuel Pellegrini’s thinking at Manchester City following his transfer from Fulham back in the summer of 2015, Patrick Roberts decided his development would be best served elsewhere heading into the second half of the 2015/16 season.
As a result, the Fulham youth product ended up joining Celtic in February on an 18-month loan deal, much to the delight of supporters.
@celticfc @patrick7roberts Welcome, thanks to Mark Lawwell
— JC (@jdc92_) 1 February 2016
https://twitter.com/blaisebonar/status/694175580976238592
https://twitter.com/AndiMac4/status/694240111626731520
Patrick Roberts for 18 months is so sound
— Christy Donnelly (@christydon10) February 1, 2016
Patrick Roberts is a done deal. Happy with that. Looks a good player and should hopefully provide a bit of much-needed skill and creativity.
— 20 Minute Tims (@20MinuteTims) February 1, 2016
@20MinuteTims he will be in goals
— Patrick Killoran🏴 (@daddykplay4) February 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/DazzaOHagan/status/694290256041000960
And once he took to the Celtic Park pitch, it was not hard to see why. A versatile attacker capable of playing on the right and just behind the striker, Roberts brought pace, a low centre of gravity and overall directness to Ronny Deila’s side.
He scored six goals in 11 league appearances for his Norwegian boss as Celtic went on to comfortably win the 2015/16 SPL title before going up another level the following season under Deila’s successor Brendan Rodgers.
With Rodgers at the helm, Roberts played exceptionally well, scoring nine SPL goals while creating a further 10 along the way, making Celtic’s decision to bring the 21-year-old in on loan for 18 months a brilliant one.
Unfortunately for Roberts, though, he was unable to have the same sort of impact in his second loan spell with the Scottish giants due to a serious hamstring injury. But overall, his time at Celtic Park can only be described as a success and one that really benefited the team.
