Ryan Christie has been linked with a move to Premier League this morning with Crystal Palace being credited with a link in the want-away midfielder who is out of contract in January 2022 and has shown little or no interest in extending his time at Celtic.
French Ligue 1 sides Monaco and Nice have been linked with a move for Christie for a considerable period although nothing concrete emerged and while Christie is reported to now prefer a move to the Continent, he has had an eye on the big money on offer in the English Premier League for a considerable period of time and will be well aware of how well both Kieran Tierney and Stuart Armstrong ave done down south, both on the park and financially.
Former Nice manager Patrick Vierra is tipped to be the new Crystal Palace manager replacing Roy Hodgson and as a long term admirer of Christie that could open the door for the Scotland star of the Euro Qualifiers to get his Celtic exit.
Liverpool’s idea in bringing in Odsonne Edouard from Celtic as a back-up to their well-established front three hasn’t really interested the French Under 21 goalscorer who wants first team football. With Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers the most likely to offer that, Edouard’s suffered a double blow this week when the former Celtic manager looked elsewhere to sign a striker from Salzburg and a fellow French Under 21 international from French Champions Lille. Don’t rule out Arsenal as a potential destination for Edouard.
Here’s the lowdown on the summer buys from Rodgers – remember some reckoned he didn’t have an eye for a player in the transfer market…
Olivier Ntcham and Kris Ajer join the other want-aways in finding it harder than they thought to get their Celtic exit organised this summer. Ajer remains unhappy at Celtic’ asking price while Ntcham reckoned his poor attitude alone would have been enough to convince Celtic to allow him to leave on a free to join AEK Athens. Ntcham had agreed personal terms with the Greek side on the assumption that he was going to be a free agent on 1 July.
With Belgium out of the Euros we’ll see what the future holds for former Celtic winger Shaun Maloney was has been linked with a move to Barcelona alongside his mentor Roberto Martinez and also with a role at Celtic, whether as Assistant Manager to Ange Postecoglou or even as the Director of Football role that would however take him away from the training ground. It’s hard to imagine Maloney choosing to walk away from his assistant role to the highly rated Spanish coach. In football you never know.
Celtic’s interest in the Hibs and Scotland striker Kevin Nisbet could see the water being tested at slightly below the £4m Hibs are looking for. The Easter Road side have a hefty sell-on clause due to Dunfermline and have never been easy to negotiate with from Celtic’s point of view, so unless we want another John McGinn scenario the £4m – of less with a fringe player thrown in – is the sensible to go, particularly as there is considerable interest in Nisbet from dour south with both Nottingham Forest and Swansea interested. Birmingham City, who had a bid for the striker rejected in the January window, are not now pursuing the Hibs goalscorer.
Celtic meanwhile formally said goodbye to three of last season’s loan stars Moi Elyounoussi, Jonjoe Kenny and Diego Laxalt whose loan moves officially ended yesterday. Elyounoussi would be a decent signing on a permanent deal if that was an option for Celtic but it looks like Southampton are looking to give him a chance this season, probably in doing so closing another door for Ryan Christie, who has been previously linked to the Saints.
Morning Gossip Crystal Palace’ interested in Ryan Christie. Ajer agent wants talks re fee demanded by Celtic. Liverpool linked with Eddy. Speculation that Shaun Maloney will be part of the new club structure. Celtic preparing bid for Nisbet but not £4m HH pic.twitter.com/MHeo2QlVF2
— Celtic Gossip (@CelticGossip) July 4, 2021
🗓 July, 2021
Thank you and good luck to Mohamed, Diego and Jonjoe as their contracts officially end with #CelticFC 🍀 pic.twitter.com/o2JyBF4SEq
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 3, 2021
