Celtic should pull Ryan Christie back from loan if at all possible

By Ruari Macneil

January 22, 2018

Brendan Rodgers confirmed last week that besides Celtic’s well documented search for a centre-half the Hoops are also after a creative talent to fill the void left in attacking midfield by the injured Tom Rogic.

Rogic has been out since 5th December with a knee injury, and could be out for 6 to 8 weeks, although a photo on Twitter revealed the Socceroos star returning to the training field at Lennoxtown with his teammates.

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With neither Rogic and Stuart Armstrong (recovering from a hernia operation) match fit the club will hope to land another attacking midfielder before the end of the window – but is recalling Ryan Christie from his loan stint from Aberdeen a better option ?

Christie starred for Aberdeen once again on the weekend (against St Mirren), netting a double and spurring his team on to victory. The loan star has arguably been Derek McInnes’ best player and looks to have developed into quite the footballer across his two stints at Pittodrie. Not only can the 22-year-old Scot pick out a pass, he dribbles well, has added bulk to his slender frame and also looks to be adding goals to his game as well. Compared to the boy who signed for Celtic from Inverness CT in 2015, Christie looks to have developed into the player that the Hoops would have been hoping for.

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The Sunday Times awarded Christie a 9/10 rating for his performance at the weekend, naming him the star of the game, whilst former Celt and current Greenock Morton manager Jim Duffy also heaped the praise on Christie following his performance.

In his Scottish Sun column Duffy wrote: “For me, the Celtic boss has the answer to his problems right under his nose – and it won’t cost him a penny.”

But what exactly do the Celtic fans think of their loaned out star? Here are a few tweets regarding Christie’s potential return to Parkhead:

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Aberdeen have been the standout team behind Celtic in the last few years, and Christie has been right at the heart of that for the past two seasons.  At 22, Christie still has his whole career ahead of him and has the potential to grow into the No 10 position for both club and country.

If a re-call from loan is possible then it’s a route worth exploring for Celtic, considering all the injury problems the club has in Christie’s position. Should the club have to wait until summer, however, the youngster has absolutely earned a shot at some game time.

List page image © Brian Hargadon