I love the "he can play in the CL quote"He's a young lad and wants to return to winning trophies, playing in the CL, and the adulation he receives from the Celtic fans.
He isn't going to get any of that at Southampton.
His head has been turned.
The question for us is, do we loan him out again for another season to Celtic, and then put him in the 1st team squad and give him game time? Or do we risk selling him to Celtic, only for him to grow and to mature as a player, and then either we or another PL club buy him for silly money?
Personally, I think we should loan him back for 1 more season and then give him a full season with City's first team to see what he can really do, and to see if he can break into the first team. City can't keep on buying young players who have got obvious talent and loan them out continually. It's not fair on the player, and it isn't bringing youth players through into the first team either. It's a cycle City need to break at some point.
I love the "he can play in the CL quote"
Yes but only for a handful of games unlikely to be more than 6
he will also get to play 8 games against Ross County and Hamilton
Bottom line is like Jason Denayer before him loaning him to Celtic was a huge mistake because it simply destroyed his development and left us with a guy at the end of it that needed to be loaned out again simply to see how good he is
I love the "he can play in the CL quote"
Yes but only for a handful of games unlikely to be more than 6
he will also get to play 8 games against Ross County and Hamilton
Bottom line is like Jason Denayer before him loaning him to Celtic was a huge mistake because it simply destroyed his development and left us with a guy at the end of it that needed to be loaned out again simply to see how good he is
I love the "he can play in the CL quote"
Yes but only for a handful of games unlikely to be more than 6
he will also get to play 8 games against Ross County and Hamilton
Bottom line is like Jason Denayer before him loaning him to Celtic was a huge mistake because it simply destroyed his development and left us with a guy at the end of it that needed to be loaned out again simply to see how good he is
Why?
He was a bit part player in the Scottish league, not a regular, until the title was won.
Great player on match of the day or You Tube, he has done little to warrant his star rating on bluemoon.
I guess that's my point Danayer did everything you could ask from him at Celtic and was still not ready for first team football and had to be loaned out again. Clearly if he had been loaned to a Prem League club he wouldn't have been signed to a new deal because we would have worked out that it's a step too far right now for himI don't see how you can say that re Denayer and his loan! Compared to his time at Sunderland the Celtic loan was much better for his development. Pros and cons for every option!
I would argue that the reason he is in the position he is now because he was grossly over-rated after his time in Celtic and that caused the issues that followed, the club should not have extended his contact.Denayer's loan to Celtic was fantastic for him. He came back from there twice the player he is now & could have gone permanently to a decent club, if we hadn't conned him into staying by promising him first team football. He's gone backwards since.
The problem is, as with Roberts, it's so easy for managers at City to buy players that they have no motivation to bring anyone through.
Roberts for example might have been the matchwinner earlier than Sterling v Bournmouth, as, unlike anyone else, he will step in & actually shoot from 20 yards, rather than looking to pass it all the time, but we will never find out because we have too many players in front of him & are looking for more, so there is no motivation for him to stay.
I would argue that the reason he is in the position he is now because he was grossly over-rated after his time in Celtic and that caused the issues that followed, the club should not have extended his contact.
As for Roberts it's not like he came though the youth system here anyway and he should have been advised better(as I agree with what you are saying), that at the end of the day is why players pay for agents.
The issue is though that City play in the Premier League, not Scottish Football, one only had to look at someone like Scott Sinclair who looks like a wonderful player there, but struggled at both City and Chelsea. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying either are poor players, just they thrive in a system that isn't like the pressures you face in England(going back in time you could look at someone like Darren Huckerby looked world class 2nd tier and wasn't half the player when he stepped up)I would argue that I watched every game he played on tv, & he was twice the player he is now, & would currently struggle to get on Celtic's bench.