Callum McGregor believes that Ryan Christie is like a new signing for Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
The midfielder was a £500,000 signing by Ronny Deila in the summer 2015 transfer window and was immediately loaned back to Inverness Caley Thistle.
Aberdeen and Caley Thistle fans have seen more of Christie over the last three years but on Sunday at Murrayfield he made his mark with the Celtic support.
Coming off the bench at half-time for Olivier Ntcham it looked like Rodgers’ side were overloaded with attacking options but by the final whistle it was Christie that was walking off with the Man of the Match award.
McGregor knows more than anyone how difficult it is to break into the Celtic side but is now in his fifth season as a first team player and one of the first names on the team sheet.
“I think you can look on him as like a new signing,” McGregor said. “He’s been out on loan, he’s returned, developed physically and is getting better all the time. It was always just a case of getting his opportunity and against Hearts he was different class.
“We’ve always known that Ryan has the quality but it was just a case of him having to get his opportunity.
“He came on and made a massive impact, he won the penalty and whether it was one goal or two goals he was excellent.
“He gave us something different in terms of his running off the ball, he played at a real high tempo and made a big impact.
“The substitutions made a difference and that’s what you are always looking for. Scotty gave us a winger out on the left and centrally Ryan worked well alongside Tom Rogic.
“They both moved the ball quickly, they made an impact getting the ball into the final third to create chances. It could have ended up four or five goals.”
McGregor has certainly proved his worth over the last few weeks, playing in a number of roles, often in the same game, as Celtic returned to form.
The team that laboured through the matches against St Mirren and Kilmarnock earlier in the season is virtually unrecognisable from the side that swept Hearts aside.
According to McGregor the transformation is down to one thing- the most vital aspect in football.
“It is all about confidence,” he added. “I the last few domestic games the free flowing football has come back. Goals create confidence, everything becomes fluid, when we counter attack we are hard to stop.
“When the ball is moving quickly we’re at our best, it can just take two touches to create a chance. When we play with a high tempo we’re a far better side.”
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