Ryan Christie has been tipped to take the Premier League by storm if he does leave Celtic this summer.
The Hoops are vulnerable to losing one of their star players on the cheap over the coming months.
The Scottish Daily Mail [back page, 25/04] has reported that the 26-year-old Celtic attacker is out of contract in January of 2022 and not next summer, which was previously reported.
This severely weakens Celtic’s position in terms of negotiation strength and if Christie indicates that he doesn’t want to stay in Glasgow, the Scottish Premiership giants will have to sell to avoid losing him on a free next winter.
Arsenal were linked with a move for the Scotland international in January and there’ll surely be other Premier League clubs interested once the transfer window opens.
The likes of John McGinn and Stuart Armstrong are two Scots who have proven themselves down South in recent years, and Danny Williams, who played with Christie at Inverness, has suggested that his old teammate might be even better than both of them.
He told The Record: “I reckon he could easily play in the Premier League. I look at players like James Maddison, who played in Scotland and is now in the Premier League, and I don’t think there’s any difference.
“He’s easily at that level. I played against the likes of John McGinn and Stuart Armstrong. They are top players as well and you see how well they have done in England. Ryan is every bit as good, if not better.”
McGinn has been a roaring success in the Premier League, after helping Aston Villa establish themselves as a real top-flight force over the past two years.
According to Birmingham Mail, the Villans value him at around £50 million and if Christie does wind up proving just as adept to Premier League life as his Scotland colleague, it’s underline what a mistake Celtic have made over his contract situation.
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