Ryan Christie has backed Ben Gannon-Doak to have a breakthrough World Cup for Scotland.
The same season when Christie left Glasgow was also the one when Gannon-Doak was handed his senior debut by Ange Postecoglou, just a few months after turning 16.
The winger turned down a Parkhead breakthrough, instead swapping it for Anfield. Last summer, the pair reunited at Bournemouth.
Christie expects a now 20-year-old Gannon-Doak to show Celtic just how much talent they missed out on at this summer’s tournament.
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Ryan Christie: Ben Gannon-Doak has something different
On FIFPRO TV with fellow ex-Celtic man Jackson Irvine, Christie was asked to predict a breakthrough player for the World Cup, replying: “My mind just instantly goes to Ben [Gannon-Doak].
“Probably just because I’m teammates with him now at Bournemouth.
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“He’s just got something that Scotland don’t normally produce in players.
“We produce an awful lot of technical centre-mids, but pacey wingers we’ve lacked over the years.
“I think we saw it naturally when he first came into our setup instantly. Just picking the ball up and being direct and driving at people.
“Everyone though, ‘Oh, he’s something we’ve not had in a while.’ Obviously, he had a big injury from that Denmark game, and he’s just recovered from it now.
“The last few weeks, he’s been back in matchday squads and stuff, so I think he’s desperate to really ramp it up between now and the end of the season and make a big impact.
“Like I said, I’m sure he’ll play his part for us in this tournament, because the way he plays is the way I like football being played: direct and [getting] people off their seats.”
Celtic picked up a percentage of the £25m transfer fee when Gannon-Doak completed his move to the South Coast last summer.
Academy players are leaving Celtic at an unprecedented rate…
Celtic players to leave the club’s academy in recent years
Gannon-Doak is just the tip of the iceberg – it has become far too common to see Celtic youngsters moving on before breaking through at senior level, given the history of the Hoops’ academy.
Aidan Borland to Aston Villa, Daniel Cummings to West Ham, Rory Mahady to Leeds… the list goes on.
Rocco Vata has been valued at £20m by Watford amid Premier League interest, after he opted to move to the Championship in search of first-team football.
Daniel Kelly moved to Millwall for the same reason, but his move has been less successful so far.
It’s been over five years since Celtic youth duo Liam Morrison and Barry Hepburn made their surprise moves to Bayern Munich. Morrison now plays for Aberdeen on loan from QPR, whilst Hepburn has been a free agent for over a year.
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