Patrick Roberts shows support for Manchester bombing victims

Patrick Roberts has expressed his support for those affected by the suicide bombing in his adopted city of Manchester.

Celtic's Patrick Roberts. Picture: SNS

The Manchester City winger, currently on loan at Celtic, has a home close to the city’s Arena where the horrific incident took place on Monday night.

“It’s a tragic thing to happen and my thoughts go out to all the families concerned,” said Roberts. “It was just girls and boys going to watch a concert.

“I’ve been to the Arena a few times, it’s not far from where I was living in the city in Deansgate. To wake up this morning and see what had happened, that people had died, was awful.

“It’s a horrible thing to have happened anywhere in the world and, as I say, my thoughts are with all the families.

“You never quite know what is going to happen and it’s just so sad that people are going to a concert and a bomb goes off. I’m a London boy but I went to events at the Arena a few times with my friends and it does make you think how close it is to where I was living.”

Roberts moved to Manchester two years ago when City signed him from Fulham for £12 million. The 20-year-old’s parent club yesterday opened up their Etihad Stadium to the families and friends of those caught up in the attack at the Arena.

“It does bring out the best in people when things like this happen,” observed Roberts. “It does bring the world together. But that a sad thing to witness for the people who were there.

“It does put life and football in perspective. You can never take anything for granted and you just have to live life every day.”

Roberts will return to Manchester after his 18-month loan spell at Celtic concludes with this Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen at Hampden.

He remains uncertain as to whether it will be possible for him to extend his involvement with the Scottish champions beyond that.

“No-one from City has been in touch,” he added. “They want me to enjoy the final, win the trophy and then we’ll talk after that.

“Could I stay at Celtic? It’s hard. One thing my mum has always said is that you want to be adored by fans and I’ve always wanted to get people off their seats. That’s what I enjoy, putting on a show. It has been great to hear the Celtic fans sing my name and to feel that love from them is something I could only dream about. Any player will tell you that to get that much love in football is hard to come by these days.

“I have said a few times now that in football you don’t know what is going to happen next in your career. I take it day by day and we’ll see how it goes.”