Former Scotland manager Craig Brown insists he is not surprised to see Ryan Christie flourishing at Celtic.
The 79-year-old got to see the attacking sensation first hand when he spent 18 months on loan at Aberdeen not so long ago.
Christie was at the club around the time of fellow starlet James Maddison. The 22-year-old, who was then on loan from Norwich City, has since moved to Leicester City for a whopping £20milion. But as he gets ready to line up for England against Bulgaria on Saturday evening, it is Scotland’s man Christie who Brown rates higher.
“Ryan has been outstanding at Celtic,” he told the Scottish Sun. “At Aberdeen we had Ryan on loan and we also had James Maddison on loan.
“Maddison went for around £20m to Leicester City and now he’s in the England squad.
“But when Ryan was at Aberdeen, my feeling was that he was the better of the two players.
“The performances he gave us at Aberdeen were excellent. It was a good bit of initiative by Derek McInnes to get him to the club on loan and he did a wonderful job for us.
“So it’s no surprise how well he’s doing at Celtic now. Ryan can be a big help for Scotland and can become a key player.”
Brown isn’t wrong about Christie
If the former Scotland boss thought Christie was good at Aberdeen, he may be even more bowled over if he watched him now.
The 24-year-old always looked a talent during his time at Pittodrie but he has entered new levels since returning to Celtic. His performances so far this season have been of a player who will be in the running for the end of season awards.
Christie has quickly turned into one of Celtic’s talisman. It seems crazy to say that considering he was only a fringe player this time last year. His rapid rise should act as inspiration to the likes of Lewis Morgan and Marian Shved who are perhaps not getting too much of an opportunity at present.
His loan spells at Inverness and Aberdeen clearly gave him the footing for a charge at the Celtic first-team. The same can be said for his fellow teammates Callum McGregor and Kristoffer Ajer at Notts County and Kilmarnock respectively.
That’s why there is so much hope for Ewan Henderson after his recent move to Ross County.
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