Celtic assistant manager John Collins has increased the hype around winger Patrick Roberts by drawing comparisons between the Englishman and Lionel Messi.

The Manchester City loanee impressed with his double strike against Hearts this weekend as his side moved one step closer to clinching their fifth consecutive Scottish Premiership title.




Speaking about Saturday's man of the match, the assistant manager said that he does not like comparing Roberts with the best player in the world, which in his opinion is Lionel Messi.

However, the Bhoys assistant believes the 19-year-old has a lot of similarities with Barcelona's star man in that he is a left-footed player and likes taking players on.
 


Collins therefore sees a lot of potential in the Manchester City man and believes that if the teenager goes on to become half as good as the Argentine that would be enough for him.  

relatedNewsStory

"I don't like comparing him to the best player in the world, which in my opinion is Messi", Collins was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"But you can see where people get the resemblances. He is left-footed. He likes to take people on and if he ends up half as good as Messi then he has done well.

"That has got to be his target, to try to emulate what Lionel Messi does week-in, week-out, which is score goals, create chances."

Roberts, who is on an 18-month loan deal at Celtic Park, has managed a total of four Premiership appearances for the Hoops, scoring two goals.