Celtic have loaned out Scott Allan and Ryan Christie this season.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has told The Scotsman that Aberdeen can forget about keeping playmaker Ryan Christie this summer – but seemed to open the door for Scott Allan to join Hibernian.
The Bhoys are marching towards another Scottish Premiership title, and a treble is also edging closer after Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Greenock Morton in the Scottish Cup.
Rodgers – who is attracting interest from elsewhere – may already be making plans for his squad for next season, and he will have decisions to make about returning loan players.
The likes of Kundai Benyu, Erik Sviatchenko, Conor Hazard and Nadir Ciftci are all out on loan, as is January signing Lewis Morgan – and Rodgers has been discussing two more loaned out played.
Midfielder Scott Allan, signed from Hibernian in 2015, has been loaned back to Hibs since January after a short spell with Dundee, having struggled to make an impact with Celtic.
Meanwhile, playmaker Ryan Christie has spent the entire season with Aberdeen having played for the Dons in the second half of last season, with Derek McInnes interested in keeping him at Pittodrie beyond the end of the campaign.
Now, Rodgers has told The Scotsman that Allan just seems to fit right at Hibernian, and needs to play regular first-team football at the age of 26, hinting that a permanent summer exit could be on the cards.
However, Rodgers added that 23-year-old Christie won’t be allowed to leave Celtic permanently this summer, and he will reintegrate with the Bhoys squad this summer as Celtic look to handle the situation of him approaching the final year of his contract.
“I watched the Rangers v Hibs game the other day and thought that Scott played really well in it,” said Rodgers. “Sometimes there are players who are just suited to a certain club and when I look at Scotty he seems right at Hibs. He’s a great boy – I’ve never had an issue with him but he is at a stage in his life where he wants to play. I had a good summer working with him when I came in here but he’d had a few ups and downs and it was about letting him go out and play somewhere. Scott has a lot of qualities,” he added.
“The plan was always for Ryan to come back. I looked at it last summer after he’d spent six months on loan to Aberdeen, working with Derek at a fantastic club, under pressure, and asked: ‘Is it better him to play 40-plus games for them or maybe play between five and ten for me?’ We had a call-back [facility] in January if we’d wanted him but I always felt a year playing out, working on his game and his physical strength, on preparing week-in and week-out for games would benefit him and benefit Celtic. I believe that he’s made the most of his opportunity with them. As a staff, we’ve watched him closely in a lot of the games and he’s been a really influential player for Aberdeen. So the plan will be for him to come back and reintegrate into the squad here over the summer and he has a year left on his contract, so we’ll look at it from there. I can’t blame Derek for wanting to have a player of that quality but it’s not a discussion we’ll have. Ryan will come back here,” he added.
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