BRENDAN Rodgers last night admitted he will attempt to bolster his Celtic squad with a winger who can also play up front as a striker and would like to bring Patrick Roberts back to Parkhead.
Rodgers was deprived the services of his two centre forwards – Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths – in the 0-0 draw with Rosenborg in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round on Wednesday night.
Dembele is sidelined until September with a hamstring strain and Griffiths, who was suspended for the meeting with the Norwegian champions, is a doubt for the rematch in Trondheim next week due to a calf injury.
However, their manager, who was forced to play Tom Rogic out of position in a “false nine” role in midweek, is reluctant to add another striker to his squad and will instead seek to bring in a wide player who can be deployed in attack when required.
Patrick Roberts did that effectively last term towards the end of his loan spell at Celtic before returning to Manchester City and Rodgers admitted he would like to bring the Englishman back to Parkhead.
“You can’t have three top strikers here,” said Rodgers. “That is the reality. In Scotland you can’t accommodate that for a number of reasons. We will maybe look at a winger who can also play as a striker.
“Pat would be amazing for here. I think everyone could see that. But it all goes down to, one, Manchester City and how they see his future there. He has obviously gone away on tour with them and got some game-time. They will make a decision after that.
"Two, it is also the boy. The boy might not want to come back. The boy might want to play in the Premier League if he has somewhere to do that. He might fancy a spell in Europe.
“But what he knows is that he has a great place here if it comes to that. The club can bring him here. It’s more going to be whether the player sees this as the next step for him.”
Roberts is keen to force his way into the City first team this season and has featured for Pep Guardiola’s side in their pre-season friendlies against Real Madrid and Manchester United this summer.
But asked if he had asked City to keep him informed about the 20-year-old’s situation, Rodgers replied: “Naturally.”
A move for Roberts, who City bought from Fulham for £12 million two years ago, though, won’t happen imminently. “Maybe later on,” he said. “We’ll know even clearer after Wednesday. We’ll have a slight break before what would be the final qualification phase.
“But we are calm. We know what we need. It’s just unfortunate with the timing, really. Some of them (English clubs) are still in pre-season. Some have just landed back.”
Rodgers is hopeful that Griffiths, who trained at Lennxotown yesterday, will be available for the rematch with Rosenborg along with Erik Sviatchenko, who also missed the match this week through injury.
Neither of them will be involved in the pre-season friendly against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. Scott Brown and Mikael Lustig, who picked up minor knocks on Wednesday night, will also not travel to Wearside.
“He (Griffiths) was out on the field today,” he said. “We’ll get a better gauge over the course of the next couple of days. We’ll need to wait and see, it’s still touch and go.
“He won’t play at Sunderland, but it’s all about getting him on the flight next week. He’ll be short of match fitness, but that’s how it goes. It’ll be down to how he feels. Players are rarely 100 per cent. Leigh will want to play if he is somewhere near.
“Hopefully Erik can be available for Rosenborg as well. He was out on the training pitch today with Leigh.
"I’m hoping he can join the group on Monday. They will do a bit more over the weekend.”
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