Manchester City could fund Celtic’s bid for Patrick Roberts!
In a bizarre transfer triangle the sale of Virgil van Dijk could provide Celtic with a £5m bonus that would make a permanent deal for Roberts affordable.
City are believed to be ready to bid more than £50m for the Southampton defender with Celtic due a generous cut of the fee for the defender that they sold less than two years ago.
The exact make up of the sell on clause is unknown but 10% of the £40m profit Southampton’s make would be the lowest estimate.
Brendan Rodgers plans to be sparing in his spending and would rather invest a lot in quality than take four of five punts- as Celtic did in 2013 when van Dijk arrived alongside Teemu Pukki, Amido Balde, Nir Bitton and Derk Boerrigter.
Whenever Roberts is mentioned a £12m fee to Fulham crops up but it’s unlikely that that sum was paid up front. £6m or £8m seems more likely with £12m due if he hits certain targets.
Celtic could probably at a push afford an £8m transfer fee with that calibre of player expecting over £2m a year in wages.
Every transfer carries risk but signing Roberts would be less risky than most deals.
He knows the club, fits in with the players and is clearly of Champions League quality.
If the van Dijk sell on clause helps fund the signing of Roberts it will be one of the most remarkable transfers in Celtic’s history.