Guardiola to assess Roberts situation at end of season

Pep Guardiola says he will re-evaluate the situation of Patrick Roberts at the end of the season after the Manchester City winger scored for Celtic against his parent club.

Roberts netted Celtic’s fourth-minute opener before Kelechi Iheanacho levelled matters in a Champions League dead rubber that finished 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

However, while Guardiola was impressed by Roberts, who is on an 18-month loan at Celtic, he feels it would be foolhardy to make a decision on his future based on one performance.

“He scored a good goal,” said Guardiola. “We are going to talk about it at the end of the season. We know his quality but the decision is not for one game – it is for one season and that perspective.

“Of course he has good quality, one against one, as a winger. He also defended well.

“We have to try and look for the clubs where those guys are going to play.

“When we want a player to play with us, they have to adapt.”

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was understandably delighted to have Roberts at his disposal and says the 19-year-old is good enough to play for City.

“I’ve been really impressed with Patrick in the build-up to this game,” he commented. “He hasn’t shown any sign of any emotion. It can’t have been easy for him, coming back as a Manchester City player, but he showed his quality.

“He’s in the right place at this stage of his career.

“You have a top class English talent – he worked, pressed the game well and showed his qualities. I’m very impressed with his qualities and concentration in this game.

“He has the quality [to play for City], there’s no doubt about that.

“You get to his age, you need to be out playing and getting games in.

“He’s at a huge club [Celtic] with big expectancy and he’s dealing with that well. He’s won a league title and won a League Cup.

“Pep and his staff will look at him next summer and I think they’ll be impressed.

“There’s a young English talent there who is a big talent and I’m sure it will be a great career for him.”