Former Celtic midfielder reflects on how close he came to Aberdeen deal

Ryan Christie has reflected on how close he came to joining Aberdeen on a permanent basis in the summer of 2018. 

The midfielder had flourished during two loan spells at Pittodrie but didn’t appear to be making any headway towards a regular place at Celtic. 

With a year left to run on his contract there was no sign of a new offer on the table as he attempted to find a way into the side which had just retained the domestic treble. 

Had Celtic signed John McGinn from Hibs it was suggested that Christie could be thrown in as part of that deal but as everyone knows McGinn moved south to Aston Villa as Peter Lawwell dithered and tried to get the better of Rod Petrie. 

Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong left Celtic in the summer of 2018 but it wasn’t until the end of October that things turned around for Christie when he came off the bench to star in a League Cup semi-final win over Hearts at Murrayfield. 

Looking back on that period, Christie told The Times: 

I reflect on that period a lot. I don’t think many people outside of football realise how easily a player’s career can go one way or the other. 

I had gone back to Celtic from being on loan at Aberdeen, and, for those first three or four games, I didn’t even make the matchday squad. 

There was a part of me then that thought, ‘that’s it, I’ve had my chance, I won’t get any more opportunities here at Celtic.’  

But, somehow, I made the decision to stick at it at Celtic, at least for another three or four months, until the January window. Then, by the time January came along, I was playing every week 

Bizarrely, soon after his Murrayfield performance signed the midfielder up on a new three year contract that ran until January 2022. In August Christie joined Bournemouth for a fee reported to be between £1-2m. 

Following the semi-final win over Hearts Christie scored the only goal of the 2018 League Cup Final win over Aberdeen at Hampden.