Among the obstacles towards Celtic signing Patrick Roberts from Manchester City is the regular claim that they paid £12m to Fulham for the 18-year-old.
That figure is regularly wheeled out to explain why the winger is out of Celtic’s price range but a look at Fulham’s accounts for the year 2015/16 reveal that the up front fee was £5.3m.
Patrick https://t.co/bepBi1flMt much did Man City pay
Fulham accounts showed profit of £7.3M on sales that year.£2M on others = PR £5.3M pic.twitter.com/9z6VHB3CVM— Barcabhoy (@Barcabhoy1) June 5, 2017
It’s unlikely that any bonus payments have been made with Roberts moving on loan to Celtic halfway through his first season at City.
What else could be involved in negotiations is anyone’s guess with only Celtic and Manchester City knowing the precise details.
City probably have upto a dozen clubs interested in taking the 20-year-old on loan for next season but it’s doubtful if any are as appropriate as Celtic.
As an attacking player being at Celtic is perfect. Brendan Rodgers side enjoy 60% plus of possession in most matches that they play giving Roberts the chance to hone his skills in a way he’ll never know at a mid-table Premier League or Bundesliga side.
One look at the career of Jason Denayer shows how the value of a player on the loan circuit can slip.
Hopefully an offer from Celtic that gives City a profit, the right to buy the player back in two years time and a 20% slice of any profit would be in everyone’s interest?