Just before the window closed and even now there is still chat of Celtic signing on-loan midfielder Patrick Roberts on a permanent basis.

While as a Celtic fan I would welcome this sort of forward thinking and intent to back the manager with a large outlay of cash it appears to be futile.

The young winger who has put in some memorable performances for Celtic since joining on-loan last season is highly regarded at Celtic Park, the bad thing though is he’s highly regarded at the Etihad also.

The feeling down south is although Pep has taken over at Manchester City there is enough people in the youth developmental side fighting the young man’s corner and are pushing for him to get a look in at the end of his current loan deal.

Patrick is facing an uphill battle back in Manchester who have so much star power the home-grown quota don’t stand a chance at times, no matter how talented. To Manchester he cost £12million and change, that’s a drop in the ocean to the former Premier league champions, but that kind of outlay from a Celtic point of view is unimaginable. Another reason why it just doesn’t look like it’s in the stars.

Patrick has a massive incentive at the end of the month when he goes up against his parent club in the Champions League. If he wants to make an impression on Pep then he must be at his best on the night. The player could very well help deliver a memorable evening at Celtic Park.

While he looks to be enjoying his football up here and sparked a budding bromance with Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney, it would seem Celtic will just be a passing fancy for the wonderkid on his emerging footballing journey. We should appreciate his talent while he is here.