Ryan Christie’s Celtic future remains in the balance as talk of his current deal expiring in January lingers. The 26-year-old appears to be tailored-made for Ange Postecoglou’s swashbuckling style with his energy, his pace, and his ability on and off the ball.
Christie was signed from Inverness CT in 2015 with loan spells at ICT as well as Aberdeen before breaking into the Celtic first team. The failure to capture John McGinn from Hibs as well as Stuart Armstrong’s departure opened up a midfield vacancy for Christie that he seized with both hands. It is probably due to the fact that these two players have performed alongside him with Scotland that the player could arguably believe that he can hold his own in England or abroad.
Crystal Palace have been linked along with Burnley, Nice and Monaco; although, the player has not yet received any concrete approaches yet. As a result, he should look at signing up for at least another year at Celtic in order to protect himself against his form falling away and potential suitors seeking alternative opportunities.
Christie has scored 40 goals and assisted 41 times in 144 games for Celtic, which is quite an impressive return. Despite the talent in Christie’s boots, he became a focal point for frustrations from the support last season. Ange said that he wants Christie to stay at the club, penning a new deal as he is someone that he wants to work with.
“He’s such an intelligent player but also one that’s willing to work hard for the team. In terms of his future, I’m pretty consistent. There’s things I can’t control.
“I’d love to keep him at the football club if he wants to stay but right now he’s a contracted player, he’s got a few months to go on his deal and he’s training awfully hard and if he keeps playing like he did on Tuesday night then I’ll keep selecting him.”
Christie is on a deal that does not reflect his value to the team, he was reportedly offered a bumper deal at the beginning of the 2019 season but knocked it back insisting that he was focusing on football. Given that he has won everything that he could win in Scotland, it is perfectly understandable for the attacking midfielder to see his future elsewhere; however, if there is no concrete interest from the Premier League, the best place for Christie to continue to work is at Celtic with a manager that plays to his strengths.
With Olivier Ntcham’s deal being cancelled and Scott Brown leaving for Aberdeen, Celtic should consider reinvesting the freed wages in the ex-Inverness prodigy. David Turnbull has highlighted that there is still work to be done on the 21-year-old meaning that there is a vacancy in the Celtic midfield for someone that can really work doggedly beside Callum McGregor and help push Ange’s side forward into becoming a real, robust outfit.
Ange Postecoglou will know that Christie could really flourish under his leadership but he will also know that a player of Christie’s calibre will cost upwards of £5m and then could be subject to quarantine if arriving from an amber list country. Christie is ready, he is working hard and he is hungry for success. He needs to be given a sizeable contract increase and when the time is right, he needs to be sold on.
