Aberdeen landed Ryan Christie on a season-long loan from Celtic this summer and it’s fair to say he’s made a positive impression.
If Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes had his way, Ryan Christie would have joined the club on a permanent basis this summer.
However, the Evening Express adds that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was only willing to sanction a season-long loan deal for the 22-year-old as part of the agreement that saw Dons winger Jonny Hayes move to Parkhead.
And it seems that, pound for pound, Aberdeen got the better half of the deal so far. While Hayes has struggled to make an impression at Celtic, starting just two Scottish Premiership games so far, Christie is already having a huge impact at last season’s runners-up.
He inspired The Dons’ 1-0 win over Motherwell at the weekend as his audacious back-heel rebounded off the post to leave Andrew Considine with the simplest of tap-ins. And it’s this ability to produce something out of nothing that has already made Christie a real fans’ favourite at Pittodrie.
‘Lights the game up’
“Ryan Christie works as hard as any player but he has that finesse. He pirouettes about the pitch and lights the game up,” McInnes told the Evening Express of Christie, who won the club’s Young Player of the Year award during a short loan at Aberdeen last season too.
“Ryan was so unlucky not to score what would have been a memorable goal. It would have been a goal everyone would have been talking about.”
Christie may have only featured in 10 league games for Celtic since arriving amid great expectations from Inverness in the summer of 2015 but, on this evidence, Rodgers was right to refuse a permanent departure.
Celtic are hardly lacking in creative talents and while Christie was perhaps not quite ready for a place in the club’s starting XI, a year at Aberdeen could be the making of a player with huge natural talent.
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