Celtic reportedly ‘alerted’ to £11m player that Collins said was better than Sterling

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Patrick Roberts could reportedly see his loan spell at Middlesbrough cut short in January and Celtic have been ‘alerted’ to the possibility that they could recall the winger – a player John Collins once raved about.

Roberts, 23, is enduring a difficult spell in his career. The winger chose not to rejoin Celtic in the summer of 2018 after two and a half years at Parkhead – initially joining in January 2016 and playing 78 times for the Hoops.

He has since endured difficult loan spells at Girona, Norwich and now Middlesbrough – where he has played just seven times this season under Neil Warnock. A return to City could occur in January, as per the Record.

Indeed, the report claims £11m (Eurosport) City signing Roberts’ potential availability has ‘alerted’ Celtic over a possible return to Glasgow in January. Rated at Celtic, John Collins once compared him to Raheem Sterling.

“I think he’s better than Raheem Sterling, who cost £50million. I think he [Roberts] scores goals,” Collins told the Scotsman in 2017. “I’d love him to stay at Celtic and entertain the Celtic fans.”

TBR’s view – Clearly Roberts is not Sterling, but boosts 10 in a row

England international Sterling has come on leaps and bounds in the last three years, and the £300,000-a-week (Spotrac) attacker is far better than Roberts could ever dream of becoming. But Roberts is still a very good option.

With 10 in a row in the balance, Celtic need some attacking talent to bring themselves back into the title race and why not a player a that knows exactly what it means to play for Celtic? Roberts would be an ideal January signing.