Patrick Roberts set to snub Celtic and join Nice on season-long loan from Man City
French club going hell for leather to land their man before the Monday night European transfer deadline
NICE are closing in on Manchester City whizkid Patrick Roberts, according to reports.
The City youngster has spent 18 months on loan at Celtic, a spell which finished at the end of last season.
Brendan Rodgers is very keen to buy the 20-year-old but looks set to miss out.
For according to French news outlet Nice-Matin, Nice are working very hard to finalise Roberts' move from the Etihad.
In fact, a deal could be reached very, very soon.
Nice are due to play Napoli in their Champions League play-off round tie.
So they want to register Roberts in their squad, which must be submitted by midnight on Monday.
The French south coast club were in fine form last term and finished a third in Ligue 1, helped by the goals of City and Liverpool flop Mario Balotelli.
Roberts arrived at the Scottish champions on a year-and-a-half loan deal in 2016.
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He lit up the Ladbrokes Premiership, leading Celtic fans to hope he would be signed on Glasgow on a full-time basis.
Roberts recently featured in a friendly win over West Ham.
But he does not appear to be in Pep Guardiola's plans for the new campaign.
And now it seems he will be playing in France for the coming season, with Nice so determined to finalise the move before the European deadline.
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