Why Manchester City should let go of Patrick Roberts

According to Yorkshire Post, Middlesbrough manager Jonathan Woodgate is interested in re-signing on-loan Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts.

The 23-year-old joined Middlesbrough in January and featured in four games across all competitions before a hamstring injury ruled him out. However, he is expected to return to the Etihad when his current deal with Boro ends this summer.

Roberts had earlier joined City’s Premier League rivals Norwich City on loan at the beginning of the season but was recalled in January due to a lack of game time.

The Englishman, who spent the first half of the season with the Canaries, played just four games before he was brought back in the winter. Despite joining City from Fulham back in 2015, Roberts has still failed to break into the first-team line-up.

To date, he has played just three matches across all competitions for the defending champions, raising questions regarding the player’s role at the club. The young attacker has spent the majority of his time at the Etihad on loan, playing for clubs such as Fulham, Celtic and Girona previously.

Roberts, who has failed in his attempts to nail down a spot in the City squad, played the best football of his career when he was on loan at Celtic. After joining Celtic in February 2016, the right-winger enjoyed a fruitful spell with the Hoops until his departure in the summer of 2018. He played 78 games overall for the Scottish giants, scoring 18 goals and giving 26 assists.

Roberts just surplus to requirements at Manchester City

Despite enjoying success with the Hoops, Roberts was called back by City and was offloaded to Spanish side Girona in the summer. However, the young attacker failed to emulate his performances and looked out of form.

He managed just a single assist from 21 matches for Girona, forcing Pep Guardiola’s side to recall him once again. Meanwhile, at City, Roberts found his chances increasingly limited due to the presence of star wingers such as Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane, and Raheem Sterling.

With Mahrez, Silva, Sane and Sterling being consistent at City, it is obvious as to why the four are Guardiola’s preferred choices on the flanks.

Also, with City achieving excellent domestic success, there was no need for Guardiola to look for new options. The four played a significant role in City’s domestic treble-winning campaign last year that saw Roberts being once again offloaded to Norwich on loan last summer.

With City already having as many as four established wingers in their midst, it seems hugely unlikely that Roberts will get any game time at the Etihad. Opportunities will be rare for the Englishman as long as City’s current crop of wingers continue to excel.

Hence, he looks surplus to the club’s requirements at the moment and it would be better for them to offload him permanently or send him on loan somewhere else.

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Verdict

Except for his loan spell with Celtic, Roberts has looked far from impressive over the years. Despite arriving at City five years back, Roberts has still not managed to impresses at the Etihad. Rather than keeping him and not offering him games, it would be better if City choose to send him elsewhere, where he is clearly wanted.