The latest transfer story surrounding Celtic’s troublesome band of Wants Aways is a re-surfacing of the French interest in the former Inverness Caley Thistle midfielder who will be entering the last six months of his contract at Celtic at the end of the month.
Christie was rather unfortunate to get pulled off at the interval in Scotland’s European Championship opener against the Czech Republic – he made probably the best chance of the first half for skipper Andy Robertson who should have done better with his shot. Then Christie didn’t even feature in the game at Wembley against England, with his pal Stuart Armstrong replacing the impressive Billy Gilmour late in the game.
We’ve seen these transfer tactics play out many times before. We’re watching another one, with a different set of tactics involving Odsonne Edouard. Will he stay at Celtic for another season to thereafter leave on a free? Will Celtic hold out for the price they reckon he is worth? Will Leicester City’s threat to look elsewhere be the bluff that wins out. All three parties are at it on this one – who will blink first?
On Christie, Scotland’s Euros campaign depends on defeating the recent World Cup finalists and then hoping for the best. Given the nature of the performance at Wembley Steve Clarke may be reluctant to make too many changes, unless injuries or weariness play a part in his decision making process. That suggests that Christie’s long awaited appearance on the big stage is likely to turn into an anti-climax to say the least. And without a couple of notable performances in this campaign, he might not be attracting the interest that he believes his talent merits.
It’s probably fair to say that Celtic fans have fallen out of love with Ryan last season and the feeling appears to be mutual. Yet perhaps he should remember that he’s played for Inverness Caley Thistle (who have a 10% sell-on clause with Celtic, after the initial £500k signing fee is deducted) and Aberdeen for two loan spells. His best football at the highest level came while playing for Celtic and the player that broke into the first team at Murrayfield a few years ago against Hearts in the League Cup semi-final , seems to have morphed into a different kind of player altogether, and it’s not turned out to be a wise decision for him to have changed his game in such a manner.
At Celtic David Turnbull became the first pick number ten and Christie was forced wide if he started. And in the international side it looks like the young Chelsea star is going to be a first pick for years to come, given his early impact.
The only real interest in Christie getting the sort of move he craves came in the January 2020 transfer window when a Bundesliga club bid was rejected by Celtic. The player himself was keen on to move even at that time with Celtic chasing down 9IAR.
Last summer Christie was linked to Burnley as the most viable transfer option to get him to the Premiership but no bids came in. His agent has been busy and the likes of Southampton have allegedly been offered a player who is probably on a par (at best) with Moi Elyounoussi, who was loaned out to Celtic for the past two seasons. Are they going to sign Christie when they already have Moi back and ready to play?
So the Nice and Monaco stories re-surfacing in Sunday Post today suggests an agent doing his job in drumming up interest given Plan A, star at the European Championships and get a dream move to England as a result, appears to be faltering.
Listen Steve Clarke might pick Christie against Croatia and good luck to both of them if he does. Christie might stick one in the top corner from 30 yards and Scotland might qualify as a result. Let’s hope so. But the Sunday Post story looks very much like the implementation of Plan B. Maybe B stands for Burnley?
Here’s a more radical Plan C for Christie to consider. Do what your best pal Stuart Armstrong did and sign a contract extension for say 2 years at Celtic. Spend a season working with Ange Postecoglou, re-discover your form and consistency and win back your favoured position. Then get the move to the type of club you crave next summer, agreed in advance with Dom McKay.
Basically don’t try to sell yourself when your stock is so low, after a year of poor form at Celtic, personally and as part of an unsuccessful, dysfunctional team.
On the French sides, OGC Nice have a much better stadium and are more of a ‘proper’ football club, with passionate supporters etc while AS Monaco is tax free…decisions eh? Best of luck to Christie regardless.
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David Potter’s new book Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle is now available at Celtic Stores, on Amazon and of course direct from Celtic Star Books, just click on the image below to order and we will post your copy first class post tomorrow….
