Manchester City have recalled winger Patrick Roberts from his loan spell at Norwich and sent him to Middlesbrough with immediate effect. The 22-year-old made just three appearances for the Canaries this season and didn’t start a single game. As a result, he will now join Jonathan Woodgate’s side in the Championship where he will hope to get more opportunities.
However, the general consensus amongst the club’s supporters is that if Roberts wasn’t good enough to feature for a club struggling at the foot of the Premier League table then he has very little chance of succeeding at City, therefore the club should be looking to sell him.
Here is how some of them reacted to the news when it was relayed by the club’s official Twitter page:
Is it time to part-ways with Patrick Roberts permanently?
Yes
No
just sell him already
— Troy (@troyboy621) January 2, 2020
Might as well sell him in summer.
— Guardiolista ? (@City_Agenda) January 2, 2020
Is he ever going to be a City player? Another promising youngster who gets his experience with inferior coaching regimes.
— Alan Allcock ? (@alaninknutsford) January 2, 2020
I worry that his talent has been wasted. He did not progress at Celtic where many of the teams he played against were low quality.
— Graham Senior (@citydoc56) January 2, 2020
Sell him in the Summer for anything. Stop keeping random players around with no future at the club.
— Callum (@callmatthews) January 2, 2020
Didn’t realise we even still had him
— Joanne (@joanne1894) January 2, 2020
What do we think?
Roberts has had loan spells at Celtic, Girona and most recently Norwich City but only in Glasgow has he shown signs of promise. The right-sided winger played 78 times for the Hoops, scoring 18 goals and providing 26 assists – an impressive return. Therefore you can understand why City have been keen to keep the youngster on their books.
This loan move to Middlesbrough feels like the last chance for the Englishman to show his parent club what he can do otherwise a permanent move away from the Etihad seems the most likely outcome.