Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he wanted to sign Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal.
After spending 18 months on loan in Glasgow, Roberts has returned to Celtic on a temporary basis in a bid to add to his 17 goals from 60 appearances in all competitions.
However, Rodgers has acknowledged that he wanted to spend big on the 20-year-old, only for City to state they they wished to keep the England Under-20 international.
At a charity event, the Northern Irishman said: "We would have broken our transfer record for Patrick. We wanted to find the deal that would get him back here. But he's a Manchester City player.
"We could have offered them £30m and they would have said no. They didn't want to sell. So the best option was to get him back on loan."
Roberts has made just four appearances for City since signing from Fulham in July 2015.
Darren Plant
