So City recently confirmed the signing of Patrick Roberts. The initial fee is said to be around the £5 million mark as well as add ons depending on how well he does here. Do you think that both Fulham and City will be pleased with the deal struck?
I think so. From Fulham’s point of view, we’ve sold an asset who no longer wanted to be at the football club with a year left on his contract for a fee which will go a long way in this division as we build a team to return to the Premier League. From City’s point of view, they’ve signed a fantastic English youngster that was watched by their Premier League rivals. It’s a signing based on potential mostly, but £5m is a good deal for City also.
Roberts made 22 appearances in the Championship last season but was never really a regular in the side. Should we look too much into last season? Did he suffer from an inconsistent campaign?
He never really played more than 30 minutes of a match, 11 of his 22 appearances were less than 15 minutes. So I don’t think you can delve into his performances of last year because, to be frank, there’s not really a performance to discuss – which is part of the reason why he wanted to leave. A Felix Magath build saw Fulham have three wide players in the squad last season, two of them under 20 years old so we utilised a narrow diamond the majority of the year which didn’t help Roberts’ game time whatsoever.
Funnily enough, Roberts made his debut for City a couple of years back. Was he always destined for a bigger challenge?
From the age of 15, Roberts was a regular for our under 18s and frequently starring. He’s always been under the eye of the bigger teams, and we always knew that his future was likely in the top 6 of the Premier League; we would just have liked to have seen the best of him like Southampton did with Adam Lallana. If developed properly and looked after, I genuinely believe that Patrick Roberts could be one of the leading lights in world football.
He has been dubbed ‘the English Messi’ and though that term is thrown around a lot, is he a player in that sort of mould?
He is, yes. It’s difficult not to compare him to Lionel Messi when you watch Patrick’s running with the ball; one minute he’s there, the next he’s not after running through a number of players and either scoring, drawing a foul or sliding a pass through for another.
What are his obvious strengths and weaknesses?
His dribbling. The boy has speed; close control and vast skill that sees him simply fly past players. Like Lionel Messi’s early Barcelona career, he’ll play on the right hand side and run inwards for his stronger left foot to shoot or slide passes through to his teammates.
His weaknesses are probably his general in-game immaturity, things like off the ball positioning, tracking back and overall defending. That will need time and coaching for sure.
Do you think playing in the EDS/Reserve side for City would be best for next season or would a loan move benefit him the most?
He didn’t really spend time in our Under 21s, going straight from the U18s the season before last to being around the first team squad. I think he needs to play professional football, though maybe spending 6 months with Patrick Vieira, playing in the early stages of the Capital One Cup and then a loan would be best in the long run. He’s a small and slight lad so needs to be protected somewhat; a move abroad may be a better experience, lesson and development move for him.
City are now in a position where they seem deadly serious about youth. With the new £250m City Football Academy complex now open, there is a great feeling that we could very well see a number of youngsters come through. Can Roberts make the grade at City?
If he doesn’t make the grade, you’d have failed him. I do think that Manchester City are serious about their youth teams, but you are in a position like Chelsea where we (the general public) will believe it when we see it. We had Seko Fofana last year of course, and although not the finished article, there’s plenty to suggest he’s going to be a good player also. I hope to see Patrick Roberts be the star he can be in the sky blue of Manchester.
