Ryan Christie impressed at Aberdeen after arriving on loan in January – but does he really have any hope of making the grade at Celtic?
Just when you thought Celtic’s domination of the Scottish game had reached its peak, runners-up Aberdeen handed their Young Player of the Year award to a Hoops loanee who had only joined the club in January.
It’s fair to say some Dons supporters were not too happy when Ryan Christie picked up the gong after starting just six games for Derek McInnes’ side. After all, it doesn’t reflect particularly well on the youth system at Pittodrie.
Yet, there’s no doubting the impact the 22-year-old made at Aberdeen. After starting just three Scottish Premiership games at Celtic in the first half of the season, Christie desperately needed to impress in his short-term loan away from Parkhead.
And although he was far from a regular fixture in Aberdeen’s starting XI, the former Inverness prospect offered a few timely reminders of his frightening potential.
That stunning strike in February’s 7-2 thrashing of Motherwell had football writers as far away as Brazil drooling over Christie’s technique and poise. And his sublime free-kick in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs means Aberdeen have a chance to prevent Celtic sealing a famous treble at Hampden Park.
Christie, in a cruel quirk of fate, will not be able to take on his parent club in the end of the season clash.
However, he may already have done enough to catch Brendan Rodgers’ eye.
@AberdeenFC Christie starting is a real positive for me #COYR
— TheThirdWave (@TheTechnoRebels) April 22, 2017
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