John Hartson praises Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie

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Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic sold Stuart Armstrong to Southampton in the summer transfer window.

John Hartson has spoken highly of Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie in The Glasgow Evening Times.

The former Celtic striker has been impressed with the performances of Christie for Brendan Rodgers’s side in recent weeks.

The 23-year-old midfielder has played important roles in the Hoops’ recent wins in the Scottish Premiership and the Europa League.

According to Transfermarkt.com, Christie has scored two goals in eight Scottish Premiership appearances and has provided one assist in three Europa League matches for Celtic so far this season.

Hartson has been impressed with the displays produced by the Scotland international, who joined Celtic from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer of 2015 for a transfer fee reported by The Daily Record to be worth £500,000 and recently signed a new contract with the Glasgow giants.

The former Celtic striker has also suggested that the Hoops have found a replacement for Stuart Armstrong in Christie.

Premier League club Southampton signed 26-year-old Scotland international midfielder Armstrong from Celtic in the summer transfer window for a fee reported by The Daily Mail to be worth £7 million.

Hartson wrote in The Glasgow Evening Times: “I’m excited to see just how Christie develops over the next couple of seasons because he will draw so much belief from playing regularly and he really does have something to offer.

“I also think with Stuart Armstrong gone that Christie is a player who can give you legs to break through lines and get in behind defences.

“You saw it last week against Leipzig when he had such a big part in teeing up Odsonne Edouard for the winning goal.”

Meanwhile, Celtic defender Mikael Lustig has spoken highly of his teammate and Scotland international winger James Forrest.

Lustig told The Herald about Forrest: “James has been flying and when he’s on form there’s no better player in Scotland in my point of view.”