Celtic sent Scott Allan out to Scottish Premiership rivals Hibernian in January, while Ryan Christie has been starring at Aberdeen.
Neil Lennon did not hold back in his praise of Scott Allan after Hibernian’s 2-1 win at Ibrox on Saturday.
Rangers simply could not live with the 25-year-old play-maker, who won the penalty converted by Jamie MacLaren to seal an impressive away triumph. Lennon even went as far as to describe Allan as ‘unplayable’, in quotes reported by Edinburgh News.
And, on this kind of form, you cannot rule out Allan kick-starting a Celtic career that looked over just a few weeks ago. The technically gifted play-maker has failed to make an impression at Parkhead since his 2015 move from Hibs but, if he can rediscover that golden touch during this loan spell at his former club, Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers should at least consider giving him another chance.
Although with another highly-rated attacking midfielder impressing away from the green half of Glasgow, you wonder whether it could be a straight shoot-out between Allan and Ryan Christie for a place in Celtic’s side next season.
22-year-old Christie has shone on loan at Aberdeen this season, setting up nine goals in Scotland’s top flight. He was even named the Dons’ Young Player of the Year after spending just the second half of the 2016/17 campaign at Pittodrie.
He, like Allan, is a creative midfielder of huge natural ability, although the jury is still out on whether either is good enough to force their way into the champions’ first-team squad.
In truth, there is probably only room for one or the other at Celtic next season. So, if Christie wants to prove that he deserves a shot at Parkhead, he should keep a close eye on Allan’s resurgence over in Edinburgh.
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