Neil Lennon is hoping to tie Ryan Christie down to a new long term contract.
The midfielder’s Celtic career looked to be winding down when he was given his chance in the autumn of 2018, took it spectacularly and signed a deal keeping him at Celtic until June 2022.
Callum McGregor and James Forrest both signed long term extensions last season with Lennon hoping to reward Christie and expand the Scottish core of the champions.
Discussing the former Caley Thistle midfielder the Celtic boss told the Daily Record:
That’s an avenue we will look to pursue. He was terrific for us last year and I’d love to give him an extension. It’s all quiet right now in terms of talks because there’s been so much going on but we’ll be picking that up again soon.
He scored 20 goals last year and I’m sure he would have added more if the season went on. That’s a fantastic return for a wide man but it wasn’t just his goals. It was his all-round game that was so important for us.
It’s like James Forrest and a good few others, they really weighed in and Ryan was right at the top as well.
Christie was signed in August 2015 while Ronny Deila was still in charge and instantly loaned back to Inverness Caley Thistle until a knee injury saw his loan terminated.
After being on the outskirts of Brendan Rodgers’ side he joined Aberdeen on loan in January 2017, helped the Dons to the Scottish Cup Final then went on holiday to avoid involvement on the day.
After another season on loan he returned to Celtic where Olivier Ntcham, Tom Rogic and Eboue Kouassi were competing for midfield slots.
Christie’s fortunes turned around at Murrayfield in the semi-final of the Betfred Cup in October following first half injuries to Ntcham and Kouassi.
Celtic dominated the second half, Christie scored one and had a huge assistant in another as his hoops prospects were transformed over 45 minutes. Six months after leaving Aberdeen he broke their hearts with the only goal in the Hampden final.
Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer are also out on contract in June 2022, getting Christie in among the top earners at the club would be money well spent.
