NFR Patrick Roberts

[brightster]

Just seen on Twitter "Exciting new challenge @GironaFC", well that is a surprise, His style might actually suit the Spanish league.
Never really bulked up enough to make it in the Premier League.

[elgreenio]

would hope there were other offers, otherwise it's not very encouraging that they have to send him on loan to an affiliate.

I do wonder how far he could have gone had he been a few years younger and here with Slav, loved that he could easily go both ways against a defender

[Jims Dentist]

Just seen on Twitter "Exciting new challenge @GironaFC", well that is a surprise, His style might actually suit the Spanish league.
Never really bulked up enough to make it in the Premier League.

Quite so, wish him well and as you say the Spanish league is less physical.

[cmg]

Should have gone there last season.
Unlucky with injury, but going back to Celtic was a waste of his time.

Five years down the line and he will still have more PL minutes at the Etihad for us (35) than for Manchester City (0).

At 21 still has time....but....

[Bassey the warrior]

Better to go there than to Celtic where he will learn nothing. I for one hope he makes it. We can hold no grudges at him leaving, at least we got a decent fee.

[General]

Should have gone there last season.
Unlucky with injury, but going back to Celtic was a waste of his time.

Five years down the line and he will still have more PL minutes at the Etihad for us (35) than for Manchester City (0).

At 21 still has time....but....

He's definitely played at the Etihad for man City already.. he also played there for Celtic in a champions league game and scored a goal..

Think man City must be hoping he kicks it up a gear now as doesn't seem to have progressed as much as they'd hope I imagine.

[cmg]

Should have gone there last season.
Unlucky with injury, but going back to Celtic was a waste of his time.

Five years down the line and he will still have more PL minutes at the Etihad for us (35) than for Manchester City (0).

At 21 still has time....but....

He's definitely played at the Etihad for man City already.. he also played there for Celtic in a champions league game and scored a goal..

PL = Premier League

The 4 PL (that's Premier League) minutes he has amassed for Manchester City were at White hart Lane (all of them).

[filham]

Still say he was the best home grown talent seen at Fulham since Haynes and yes that includes Sess.

[Twig]

Still say he was the best home grown talent seen at Fulham since Haynes and yes that includes Sess.

Possibly the case but sadly we may never find out, he seems to be gradually losing his way.  He was certainly an exceptional talent.

[Rhys Lightning 63]

Who?

[hovewhite]

Still say he was the best home grown talent seen at Fulham since Haynes and yes that includes Sess.

Possibly the case but sadly we may never find out, he seems to be gradually losing his way.  He was certainly an exceptional talent.

he could end up a wasted talent which would be a shame.

[aaronmcguigan]

To be fair, he sat on the Celtic bench a good bit last season. Getting him into an affiliate team will not only get him top tier league experience but also to control and have an input into his game time and development.
That said he will need a belter of a season to come back into the starting lineup when they can spend whatever they want and also have younger hungrier players in the youth team.

He's won 2 league titles already , played champions league football, trained with world class players; he was being entirely underused and misused by Kit Symons and his departure was best for us and himself. We had just finished 19th and he had made 2 starts all season in the championship. Hindsight may have told him to get a different club to Man City, but I don't see any reason people snipe at him for leaving when he did. Money in the bank for a fringe player , poor handling of other contracts such as Emo and Dembele could have netted us a fortune, but we were performing horribly at a time when these contracts were up for renewal

[Twig]

Who?

Is that really necessary?

[Whitesideup]

Don't agree with those who say he needs to get bigger, to "bulk up". Look at Messi. He just needs the opportunity to get better. If you don't play, you don't get better. Having promise and moving to a big club  is not the way to get the playing time that really counts. Most of us would agree, but most young players don't appreciate the negative side of the big paycheque .. or perhaps they do, and just say, what the hell, take the money now.

[cmg]

If Pat had really wanted some travels without spending a load of time at his home base he might have been better of at Chelsea.
In early 2012 Chelsea obtained a (presumably) promising 17 year old striker, Joao Rodríguez, from Quindio (Colombia) and he was soon loaned back to them. He was then loaned to another Colombian club, Uniautónoma. By now he seems to have graduated to Chelsea u21, although there is no evidence that he actually played for them, and he was soon off to Bastia in Corsica (France). On returning (very briefly) to SW6 he was quickly shunted off to Vittoria Settubal (Portugal). Next stop on his tour of Europe was St Truiden in Belgium. After a season there he turned down a job as a translator at the European Parliament to return home to Colombia on loan with Independiante de Santa Fe. 2017 saw him on loan, still in Colombia with Cortulua. Having done Europe and South America he switched continents and went on loan to
Tempico Madero in Mexico.
By then Chelsea welcomed him back into the fold...did they hell. He will be on loan to Tenerife this season.
That's 10 teams, 7 countries, 3 continents in 6 years. Beats working for a living I suppose but seems a strange way to nurture young talent.

[colinwhite]

For those of us who push the" talent"  point .....

Talent,is only a small part of what it takes to become an elite football player. To reach the very top requires so many qualities other than god given skill.If you dont have the physical stature ,and lack exceptional pace to boot then its going to be very difficult. I would say the most important quality needed to succeed in a young player is the desire to train and the enjoyment of it,coupled with striving after development and never being happy with what you have got.As well as the abillity to adapt yourself and understand what is required from yoy to play in  a team.
The irony is that the more talent you have ,the less likely it is that you feel the need to have these qualities,and without them you are simply not going to be good enough.

[Mince n Tatties]

I blame his advisers,did they honestly believe with the talent at their disposal that City were going to give Patrick much game time.

[toshes mate]

I blame his advisers,did they honestly believe with the talent at their disposal that City were going to give Patrick much game time.

Agree to the extent that Roberts may have made mistakes along the journey, but almost all of us do that, don't we?  He is still young.

[Logicalman]

To be fair, he sat on the Celtic bench a good bit last season. Getting him into an affiliate team will not only get him top tier league experience but also to control and have an input into his game time and development.
That said he will need a belter of a season to come back into the starting lineup when they can spend whatever they want and also have younger hungrier players in the youth team.

He's won 2 league titles already , played champions league football, trained with world class players; he was being entirely underused and misused by Kit Symons and his departure was best for us and himself. We had just finished 19th and he had made 2 starts all season in the championship. Hindsight may have told him to get a different club to Man City, but I don't see any reason people snipe at him for leaving when he did. Money in the bank for a fringe player , poor handling of other contracts such as Emo and Dembele could have netted us a fortune, but we were performing horribly at a time when these contracts were up for renewal

I agree with these sentiments, though if he believed, even for one second, that he was anywhere ready to step into the Citeh lineup, then he had a screw loose, and that has been the downfall for too many exceptional young talent. Perhaps its as much down to his agent, but its just another indication where money speaks louder than experienced heads and promising careers are either set back awhile or ruined completely.

I do wish him the best, but he was mistaken making the move he did when he did, mid-level PL team would have been a good step for a couple of seasons. As for his recent move, not certain it will toughen him up enough for a return to the PL.