Southampton remain interested in Manchester City’s Patrick Roberts
By Chris Hughes
After persistent links all summer, Southampton are believed to still be keen on signing young winger Patrick Roberts.
Southampton could be in for a rocky, turbulent final three weeks of the transfer window, with Mario Lemina set to arrive within the next few days but with Virgil van Dijk now having released a statement relaying his intent to move on for a new challenge.
However the Saints could also be in for another attacker, as they remain interested in young Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts.
Rumours have gathered pace and then cooled off all summer, but it seems like the Saints are once again keen to land the young Englishman, fending off interest from Celtic and French side Nice.
The 20-year-old has spent his last eighteen months on loan with the former, scoring 15 goals in 43 league appearances whilst winning the treble in his only full campaign.
Roberts rose to prominence in the 2014/15 season whilst still on the books at Fulham in the Championship, earning himself a move to Manchester City for around £12 million.
It’s believed that a similar fee would be involved in order for Southampton to sign the winger, who has a reputation for being direct and running at defences.
He’d join a Southampton squad which is lacking depth when it comes to pacey players, with only Nathan Redmond, Sofiane Boufal and arguably Shane Long when it comes to speedy attackers in the final third.
Roberts is no doubt deemed surplus to requirements at Pep Guardiola’s City, with Bernardo Silva having been brought in this summer to join a plethora of young attackers that include Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane.
Even after the reported signing of Mario Lemina the Saints could still do with two or so signings before the end of the window, and bringing in Roberts as soon as possible would be a great step forward after an otherwise slow start this summer.