Sunderland may run out of time to snap up Celtic’s Ryan Christie.
Sunderland boss Jack Ross has told The Sunderland Echo that he thinks his side may run out of time to sign Celtic playmaker Ryan Christie on deadline day.
The Black Cats have backed new manager Ross with a host of signings this summer, such as Jon McLaughlin, Jack Baldwin, Dylan McGeouch and Charlie Wyke, all arriving at the Stadium of Light.
So far, Ross has got off to a great start as Sunderland boss, claiming 13 points from a possible 15 in League One, meaning his side sit second in the table.
However, Ross remains keen on one more addition before Friday’s loan deadline, with Celtic’s Ryan Christie currently his top target in an ambitious move.
Christie, 23, was one of Scottish football’s top talents with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and joined Celtic in 2015, only to find that his first-team opportunities would be limited in Glasgow.
Christie has made just 14 appearances for Celtic, and has spent the last 18 months out on loan with Aberdeen, before return to the Bhoys to again side on the fringes of Brendan Rodgers’ side.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Christie looks set to move on, and Sunderland have been keen to lure him to Wearside on loan until January, when the deal would then become permanent.
Now though, Sunderland boss Ross has told The Sunderland Echo that the Black Cats are in a race against time to offload Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong, freeing up the room to sign Christie – and with less than 24 hours to go, Sunderland may not quite get it done, suggesting that it’s ‘sad’ to see Djilobodji and Ndong sit on the sidelines rather than move on, with the saga preventing a Christie deal.
“Ryan obviously isn’t playing much at Celtic at the moment, though he did come off the bench in a league game at the weekend,” said Jack. “He’ll have interest from elsewhere and we’re not in position where we can do anything immediately. That may be problematic for us as these hours wounds down. It may not be, things could change.”
“There’s been dialogue with clubs so we could potentially move something forward [with Christie or another target] quite quickly. But because the deadline is longer in some European countries, that complicates it again. In theory the two players could still sit it out. It has been a saga, it’s been rubbish for Tony [Coton] and Richard [Hill], time consuming and stopped them focusing on the positive aspects of the club. It is sad in a lot of ways, they’re footballers, they should want to play,” he added.
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