Manchester City Transfer News: Alex Grimaldo Rumours, Patrick Roberts Latest

Manchester City reportedly cooled their interest in Benfica defender Alex Grimaldo over the summer due to the player's unreliable fitness record.

According to O Jogo (h/t Lucas Sposito of Sport Witness), while a long-term admirer of the player, City manager Pep Guardiola was concerned about the amount of football missed by Grimaldo in recent seasons.

As noted by Sposito, the former Barcelona academy star has sat out 41.4 per cent of the team's fixtures since joining the Portuguese outfit in 2016; Grimaldo has played 51 of a possible 87 games for the Lisbon giants.

City did move to strengthen the left side of their defence in the window, with Benjamin Mendy arriving from AS Monaco for a staggering €58 million (£53 million). According to Sposito, not only is Grimaldo a younger option, he would have been a cheaper purchase, too.

However, as noted by football writer Tom Kundert, Benfica had already lost some key figures in the summer, so it's unlikely they would have sold the 21-year-old for a cut-price fee:

Per Sposito, Guardiola has long been mentioned as an admirer of Grimaldo, with the player said to have caught his eye during their time together at Barcelona.

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Indeed, plenty were surprised when the youngster departed the Camp Nou in 2016. He was the captain of the club's B team and showcased tremendous ability on a consistent basis. And when he's been on the field for Benfica since his move, he's thrived in the main.

Mendy, a more combative and aggressive full-back, is arguably better suited for English football, though. And given the physical nature of the Premier League, any concerns about a player's durability must be considered when it comes to new signings.

Celtic Willing to Spend on Patrick Roberts

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers would have sanctioned a club-record bid for Manchester City starlet Patrick Roberts, but the Premier League side did not want to let him go.

"We would have broken our transfer record for Patrick," Rodgers said, per Stephen Creek of Goal. "We wanted to find the deal that would get him back here. But he's a Manchester City player. We could have offered them £30 million and they would have said no. They didn't want to sell. So the best option was to get him back on loan."

Indeed, after a successful 18-month loan spell came to a conclusion at the end of the 2016-17 season, Celtic moved to loan Roberts again. 

As noted by Squawka Football, in a season that saw Celtic dominate Scottish football with a treble of titles, Roberts was brilliant in the attacking third:

There's no doubt the 20-year-old is a natural talent. The winger has a burst of acceleration, tremendous balance and composure when he gets into dangerous positions. After making some encouraging progress over the last year, Celtic supporters will want to see even more from Roberts in 2017-18.

City evidently believe Roberts has a future at the club given they rejected any notion of a permanent move. It will be fascinating to see how they look to integrate the youngster further down the line with so much attacking class already on their books.