An interesting report in one of the red-tops today on the transfer of Ryan Christie from Celtic to Bournemouth on deadline day, is worth mentioning.
Sun reporter Alan Nixon has revealed (Sun on Sunday print edition, 3 October 2021, pg.61) that the deal that brought Ryan Christie to Bournemouth could be worth more to Celtic than first thought.
He claims that Bournemouth will have to pay Celtic an additional £2m for the creative midfielder if they win promotion to the Premier League. On top of this Celtic will be due yet another fee if The Cherries manage to remain in the Premier League the following season.
Although it’s very early in the season and The Championship is known for things changing very quickly, Scott Parker’s men are currently sitting top of the league. A hard-fought comeback win against Sheffield United yesterday has maintained Bournemouth’s unbeaten start to the season, and they hold a three-point lead over their nearest rivals.
This is good news if it’s means Celtic potentially ending up with extra money out of the deal. These clauses are common nowadays and it’s no surprise to see it’s been included in this instance, with us inserting similar add ons in the Kris Ajer to Brentford deal.
Christie completed his move to the south coast on Deadline Day, in a deal that was believed to be worth an initial £2.5m. In the days leading up to the move being completed it had been revealed that after initially being linked to a host of clubs, including teams overseas, it had come down to a straight shoot out for his signature between Burnley and Bournemouth. Many were surprised that Christie ended up choosing Bournemouth due to them currently residing in The Championship while Burnley are in the Premier League.
Even though Christie had entered the final months of his deal at Celtic Park, many fans felt that the fee we received for the Scotland international was low. Personally I thought to get any sort of seven figure fee for a player who clearly wanted out of the club, and essentially was free to sign a pre contract agreement meaning we would get nothing, was decent business.
With the news of these potential extra payments we could receive dependant on how Bournemouth do in the next few years I’m even more convinced it was a good deal.
Now I know that Ryan Christie is a good footballer who done well for us over the years and to be honest if he was still at Celtic Park I imagine he would be playing most games under Ange, who put on record that he was a fan of the player. Unfortunately just like the other ‘wantaways’ Ajer and Édouard, Ryan had made it clear he wanted out. So in my opinion we have done well to complete the deal with more than a realistic chance of Bournemouth doing well enough to add extra money to it.
Conall McGinty
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