Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has been appointed as the manager of Premier League side Crystal Palace, putting Celtic’s Ryan Christie on alert for a potential move to London. The 26-year-old is in the final year of his deal at Celtic Park and he has been widely tipped to exit the club after rejecting a deal to extend his stay at the club last year.
Vieira tried to sign Christie to his last side OGC Nice in the Cote D’Azur but no deal was forthcoming. However, today Mail Sport via The Record, claim that Palace will look to seal a cut-price deal for the attacking midfielder.
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 🦅
We are delighted to confirm the appointment of Patrick Vieira as our new manager until 2024 ✍️#CPFC | https://t.co/utMcYSDkhb
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) July 4, 2021
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.
Vieira is in need of recruits this summer after a mass exodus in the summer from Selhurst Park. Christie will likely be high on the list of targets and Celtic will want the deal to be completed as soon as possible.
The semi-final win over Hearts at Murrayfield announced Christie as a Celtic player. He scored, assisted and won a penalty as the club sealed their place in the final. Christie went from strength to strength and signed a contract extension in November 2019. Christie has come under criticism from sections of the support due to some audacious attempts at goal. The player clearly sees himself going to England and Celtic need to maximise the value in Christie this summer.
If Ange Postecoglou could get £8m for the player, it would be excellent business for the the new manager, especially with links to Aaron Mooy this week.
