League One high-flyers Sunderland are reportedly hoping to sign talented midfielder Ryan Christie from Scottish Premiership giants Celtic.
It seems that Celtic could sell Ryan Christie for exactly the same fee that they signed him for back in 2015.
According to the Scottish Sun, the midfielder has just one year left on his contract at Parkhead and has attracted the attention of League One outfit Sunderland. And, with Christie unlikely to be offered a new deal, it is claimed that his price-tag is as low as £500,000.
Interestingly, that is exactly how much Celtic paid Inverness to sign the then 20-year-old three years ago. And, in truth, the Hoops’ failure to make any sort of a profit on the talented playmaker reeks of bad business.
After all, Christie’s reputation has sky rocketed on the back of a terrific 18 month loan spell at Aberdeen. He won The Dons’ Young Player of the Year award in 2017 and scored eight and assisted 15 more last season too.
Christie has also forced his way into the Scotland squad, making two international appearances since his debut last year.
So Celtic’s failure to hand the 23-year-old a new contract is looking costly, quite literally, despite claims from the Express in March that they were planning to do exactly that.
If the likes of John McGinn are going for £3 million, Christie should be in the same price bracket but The Hoops’ inability to extend his deal, if only to increase his market value, should be seen as a mistake.
Now, Celtic are in a positon where they have to sell Christie on the cheap or lose him on a free. And it all seems so avoidable.
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