Pundit baffled by Celtic as ‘brilliant’ Christie news confirmed
Celtic have done very well to rake in £3million from the sale of Ryan Christie given his “weird” contract situation.
So says ex-Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Celtic confirmed Christie’s exit on deadline day.
This site revealed yesterday (31 August) the 26-year-old midfielder had agreed personal terms with Bournemouth despite a late bid from Burnley.
A Celtic source later told this site that the Cherries were paying up to £3m for the 20-cap Scotland international, who has now signed a three-year deal.
Christie had just six months remaining on his Parkhead contract before his departure and would have been free to leave for free in January.
And Kenny is impressed that the Hoops have managed to negotiate a fee for the former Inverness man at the very last minute.
He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “It was a weird one, his contract expiring in January. I’ve never heard of that before.
“But you’d rather get something back for him now than nothing in six months time.
“They’ve got the money and spent it on the striker [Giorgos Giakoumakis] who scored 26 goals in 30 games in Holland.
“They’ve also got the £15m for Edouard, so it’s not been a bad day for them at all. Yet again, I think this is a brilliant bit of business for Celtic.”
Christie featured nine times for Ange Postecoglou’s side this season before his departure.
He scored 41 goals and supplied 44 assists across 151 Celtic appearances in total.
In other news, pundit claims Ranger handed major title boost while Celtic hit amid near-£15m reveal.